Child killed in arson attack on BNP leader’s home in Bangladesh

A seven-year-old girl was killed and three others critically injured after a BNP leader’s house was allegedly locked and set on fire in Bangladesh’s Lakshmipur district, as police investigate amid rising violence in the country.

Dhaka: Amid escalating violence in Bangladesh, a child was killed and three others critically injured on Saturday after the house of a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader was allegedly locked from the outside and set on fire in Lakshmipur Sadar upazila, local media reported.

According to the police, the attack took place in the early hours of Saturday at the residence of Belal Hossain, a businessman and assistant organising secretary of BNP in Bhabaniganj Union.

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Confirming the incident, the Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Lakshmipur Sadar Model Thana, Md Wahid Parvez, said Belal’s seven-year-old daughter, Ayesha Akter, was burnt to death in the arson attack.

He added that the BNP leader and his two other daughters, 16-year-old Salma Akter and 14-year-old Samia Akter, sustained critical burn injuries. Belal is being treated at Lakshmipur Sadar Hospital, while his daughters have been transferred to Dhaka for advanced medical treatment.

“We are investigating who committed this act and the motive behind it,” Bangladesh’s leading newspaper, The Daily Star, quoted Wahid as saying.

Speaking to Daily Star, Arup Pal, residential medical officer (RMO) of Lakshmipur Sadar Hospital, said, “Two teenage girls and their father were brought to the emergency department with burn injuries around 2:00 am. Belal Hossain has been admitted here, but the two girls were referred to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka, as their condition is critical. About 50-60 per cent of their bodies have been burnt.”

Belal’s mother, Hazera Begum, claimed that miscreants locked both doors and set the house ablaze by pouring petrol, but she was unable to identify the perpetrators.

“I went to sleep after dinner. Around 1:00 am, I woke up and saw through the window that my son’s tin-shed house was on fire. I ran out screaming, but found both doors of the house locked from the outside. I couldn’t enter. Eventually, my son managed to break down the door and escape. His wife, Nazma, also managed to get out with their four-month-old infant, Abir Hossain, and six-year-old son, Habib,” Daily Star quoted Hazera Begum as saying, describing the horrific incident.

“My granddaughters, Salma, Samia, and Ayesha, were sleeping in one of the rooms. Two of them were rescued with severe burns, but the youngest girl (Ayesha) was burnt to death inside. Belal was also badly burned,” she added.

The incident comes amid an alarming rise in violence and a degrading law and order situation across Bangladesh under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.