Wife and three children lost, a stunned Shahidul and a grieving Jhikargachha
JASHORE: A son was coming home after nearly 11 years in Malaysia. His mother, siblings and relatives had gone to Dhaka airport to bring him back. But they never made it home. Four members of the family were killed in a road accident. Only the father, Shahidul Islam, survived, because he had stayed behind. Having lost his wife and three children, he is now distraught. News of the four deaths has cast a shadow of mourning across Baliadanga village in Jashore’s Jhikargachha upazila.
Nurjahan Begum of Baliadanga village in Jashore’s Jhikargachha upazila, her sons Ariful Islam and Rakibul Islam, and her daughter Ayesha Begum were killed early Tuesday when their private car struck the back of a stationary truck in the Maligram area of the Dhaka-Bhanga Expressway. The car’s driver also died. Ariful’s sister’s three-year-old daughter and six-year-old son survived the crash.
As word of the accident spread, relatives and neighbors began arriving at the family home in Baliadanga village. The air there grew heavy with their wailing.
Local residents said the family’s good days had come only after much hardship. Eleven years ago, the eldest son, Ariful Islam, went to Malaysia to support the struggling household. With money earned over his years abroad, he bought land and built a house. The family’s circumstances improved. His homecoming had filled the house with a festive mood. He was due to go to see a prospective bride the next day.
But that joy turned to grief in an instant. Having lost his wife and three children in the accident, Shahidul Islam has been left with nothing. Of the family’s five members, he survived only because he had stayed home. He is distraught at the loss of his relatives.
Ariful’s uncle Nazrul Islam said Arif had been abroad for 11 years and had landed at the airport late Monday night. His mother, Nurjahan Begum, along with her two children and grandchildren, had gone to bring him home. On the way back, four members of the same family died. No one is left in the family now except the father, Shahidul Islam.
Another uncle, Abdul Kader, said Ariful had gone abroad at the age of 18. The household had been a poor one. Now it was a happy home. Just as they were about to enjoy that happiness, four members of the family were gone.
Cousin Mintu Rahman said relatives had gone to Faridpur to bring back the bodies. They would be buried in the family graveyard after a funeral prayer at night.
Md. Anis-ur Rahman, chairman of Bankra Union Parishad, said Nurjahan Begum was well known in the area because she had contested a reserved seat for women on the union council. When news of the road accident spread, the villages of Khoshalnagar and Baliadanga were stunned with grief.
Abu Jafar, manager of the Bhanga fire station, said: “Around 4:30 a.m. we received the report, reached the scene and rescued the driver and passengers of the private car. The driver was trapped behind the truck along with the car. We later cut away part of the car to recover the driver’s body.” He said the bodies were handed over to the family after post-mortem examinations.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report