Ahnaf Tahmid (10) died while undergoing circumcision at JS Diagnostic and Medical Checkup Center in Malibag Chowdhury neighborhood of the capital. After burying Tahmid’s body in Comilla last Wednesday night, his family returned to Dhaka.
Many neighbors who knew Tahmid showed up at their house on Thursday morning. They also cannot accept such a death of Tahmid. Everyone in the family is silent and crying only remembering his memory. Everything including Tahmid’s reading table, childhood photos, clothes are floating in front of the eyes and everyone is getting emotional thinking about Tahmid.
At Khilgaon’s house, Tahmid’s mother Khairun Nahar Chumki is seen lying unconscious in a room. In the next room, his father Fakhrul Alam is sitting holding his little son. And his grandmother Nazneen Nahar is sleeping in Tahmid’s room. Neighbors are coming, talking. Tahmid was everyone’s favorite face. He was everyone’s favorite. Everyone keeps shedding tears thinking about him.
The house where the Tahmids live in Khilgaon area belongs to their great freedom fighter Rezaul Haque. Tahmid’s family lives in a flat on the second floor of a three-storey building. His grandmother Nazneen Nahar lives with them. And Tahmid’s great aunt Ruman Nahar Rumki and only cousin Tahmin Newaz live in the next flat. As they were all together, they had more affinity with the Tahmids. There was always a competition to outdo each other in education.
Tahmid’s father Fakhrul Alam said in the light of time, I have been such a danger to people. For the past few weeks, everyone I met said that the boy was growing up, that circumcision was necessary. And Motijheel, the son of doctor Moktadir, got acquainted with the ideal. Two days before the circumcision he became very sincere.
When talking about circumcision, he said, ‘Tahmid is my son, don’t be tense.’ Their two brothers can be circumcised together. But I don’t say, little Ayman will be circumcised later. If the little boy was allowed to be circumcised by them, he would also be killed.
In a tearful voice, he said, usually I used to show the boys to Labaid, popular and big hospitals and doctors even if it was something small. They were consulted. But I don’t know if I took him here to be circumcised. I killed my son with my own hands. Tahmid came back while wearing a lungi while taking it to the OT, and did not say anything. The doctor scolds Moktadi and asks him to go inside. If I could have listened to my son, I might have saved him.
Recalling Tahmid, Fakhrul was saying that Tahmid did not make any extra trouble. His only problem is where to go, which competition to participate in. Sometimes I used to say, if you do these things, you will not study. But he showed confidence that he would do well in studies no matter what.
Khairun Nahar Chumkir, the mother of deceased Tahmid, is not stopping crying. He said in a tearful voice, Tahmid’s world is his mother. But today he left me. The way a 10-year-old boy served his mother, gave love, it is not possible for anyone else to give it. I could not serve him, he served me. He didn’t understand anything except his mother. If his mother calls night as day, and day is night, that is right for him. If someone said something to me, he would get angry. Ever since Tahmid came into the womb, I have everything from dresses to everything I have bought for her. For this I moved to the country from Denmark. There was no end to my dreams about him. I went for a walk on the occasion of Pahela Phagun. It is impossible for me to live without him. As I was out at noon on the day of circumcision, they ate rice, later when I came, they said, “Mom, the rice in your hand was not fun today.” Can you feed me two pieces? Then I fed Tahmid while eating. When leaving the house at night, mom says I am very hungry, will I be able to eat if I am circumcised? Entering it because he can eat everything, and how can I leave him to eat today? He burst into tears because he did not feed Tahmid.
Acting Principal of Motijheel Ideal School and College, Mohammad Emam Hossain, told Times, “We Ideal family is saddened by the death of Tahmid.” A prayer was organized for him yesterday at the school. The boy started classes from January 14. The news of his death less than two months ago is very sad.
When asked about the absconding doctor, Hatirjheel Police Station OC Shah Md. Awlad Hossain told the Times that SM Moktadir, Orthopedic Surgeon of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and owner of JS Hospital and Mahbub Morshed, Doctor of Anesthesiology Department of BSMMU, have been arrested in connection with the death of a circumcised child. They have been remanded for questioning at Jailgate. Ishtiaq Azad, a doctor in the surgery department of DMK Hospital, is absconding in that incident. An operation is underway to arrest him.
The OC also said that a child entered the operation theater smiling and returned as a dead body. What will you explain to these parents?
