CHATTOGRAM, May 9: An 11-year-old girl is lying in the intensive care unit of Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH) after a bullet struck her eye while she had stepped out to buy betel leaves.
Doctors say the child is at a "life and death crossroads" as multiple organs are failing.
On Thursday night, Raju, a young man identified with a single name, was killed when unidentified assailants opened fire in Shaheed Minar Lane of Raufabad under Bayezid Bostami Police Station.
Reshmi Akter, a local resident, was also injured in the incident.
On Saturday at CMCH, her elder brother Faisal Ahmed was seen sitting on a mat near ICU on the ground floor, along with his wife and several relatives and neighbours.
Reacting to journalists, he said: "What is the point of the news? My sister is not well. Doctors have said anything can happen at any moment."
Faisal said, "We are two brothers and three sisters. My elder brother works in a garment factory, I run a small grocery shop. One sister is married.
"Reshmi is the youngest. She studies in class four at Barrister Milky Memorial School in the Bayezid Pahartali residential area."
According to Faisal, Reshmi had left home on Thursday night to buy betel leaves from a nearby shop when several masked men suddenly opened fire. One of the bullets hit her left eye.
"After bringing her here that night, we could not get an ICU bed. We took her to a private hospital, but we cannot afford treatment there.
"So we brought her back here [on Friday]. She has now been admitted to the ICU," he said.
Abdul Karim, chief of Bayezid Bostami Police, said the attackers began firing indiscriminately as soon as they entered the alley.
Faisal's wife Taslima Akter was at home when the shooting took place.
"The shop is at the entrance of our lane. Right after she left, we heard gunshots," she said.
"Brain matter is coming out through the wound. Doctors have said she cannot recover. They could not operate either. The bullet is still lodged inside her eye."
Taslima said her father-in-law is physically disabled and walks with difficulty due to deformities in both legs. He sells vegetables from a three-wheeler near the entrance to Raufabad.
Baki Billah, head of the ICU at CMCH, told bdnews24.com that the child's condition is "extremely critical".
"A medical board has been formed. She is suffering from multi-organ failure," he said. "The bullet entered through her eye and brain matter is coming out from the injury site.
"She is being kept alive with multiple support systems."
"In this condition, surgery cannot be performed. Her heart, lungs and other organs are being supported medically."
Soon after the incident, Chattogram Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner (North) Amirul Islam said Raju was from Raozan Upazila and had come to visit his sister's house a few days earlier.
Police suspect he may have been killed over a dispute linked to Raozan.
Meanwhile, no case had been filed over Raju's killing even two days after the incident.
Officer Karim said Raju's family came to the police station on Saturday afternoon and planned to file a case.
�"bdnews24
