Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday slammed Bengali daily Prothom Alo over the death of Dhaka Residential Model School and College student Nayeemul Abrar Rahat, saying such offence could not be tolerated. Expressing her dismay over the utter negligence of the Prothom Alo authorities, she held the daily responsible for the death of the promising school boy.
While distributing assistance among journalists at a function at the Prime Minister’s office, the Prime Minister blamed the Prothom Alo authorities for their negligence, terming it as a serious offence. “How they (Prothom Alo) could resort to such negligence. Didn’t they have any responsibilities to arrange the programme in a proper manner as little students were roaming around. But, they did not pay heed to the matter. This is a serious offence. It can’t be tolerated,” said Sheikh Hasina.
The Prime Minister also criticized the Prothom Alo authorities for taking the student to a private hospital in Mohakhali despite having several hospitals such as Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital, National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital and Trauma Centre around the venue.
The child was electrocuted during an event organised by the Kishor Alo, the newspaper’s youth magazine, on the school campus on Nov 1.
A case has been filed against Prothom Alo editor Matiur Rahman over the death of the student. Md. Mujibur Rahman, the father of the deceased, filed the case with Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court in Dhaka on Wednesday alleging that negligence on part of the organisers caused his son's death. The court also ordered an autopsy for Rahat.
Mujibur had, earlier, filed a case of unnatural death over the incident on Nov 1 and the court ordered Mohammadpur police to complete the investigation into both complaints by Dec 1. Rahat, 15, a nonresident student of class nine, received electric shock from a power generator set up behind a stage erected for 'Ki Ananda' -- an event organised by the Kishor Alo, a magazine published by Matiur Rahman. Rahat, who hailed from Noakhali, lived with his family at the capital's Agargaon.
After the incident, he was taken to the Universal Medical College Hospital in Mohakhali where doctors pronounced him dead. The case also implicated the organisers of the programme without naming them. It alleged that the organisers went ahead with the event without properly managing and securing the power supply.
After Rahat was electrocuted, he was taken all the way to a hospital in Mohakhali when the Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital was on the opposite side of the road.
