Parent accuses doctors of killing their only child through ‘wrong treatment’

Parent of an 8-year-old girl named Mariam Zaman Arfia has accused physicians of Bangladesh Specialized Hospital for killing her through “wrong treatment”. A social media post by Jubaida Alam, mother of the child went viral thus catching attention of the local journalists and rights activists. Meanwhile, a complaint has been lodged with Dhaka’s Adabor Police Station.

Two doctors against whom this complaint has been made are – Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s Hematology Department Associate Professor Dr. Monirul Islam and Dr. Israt Jahan Lucky.

Arfia’s mother Jubaida Alam, in a written complaint filed with the Adabar Police Station said: “On September 8, my only child Maryam Zaman Arfia was treated with a slight fever in Bangladesh Specialized Hospital and was subsequently admitted at the emergency ward as per advice of Dr. Monirul Islam. Following admission, Arfia was put on canola in PICU. The doctors began wrong treatment before diagnosing her physical condition or the disease.

“My daughter has been under the treatment of Dr. Monirul Islam for the past one year. I admitted my daughter as per his advice, as I had put my full trust in him. I had blindly trusted Monirul Islam”.

Jubaida Alam in her complaint said, “following admission in the Bangladesh Specialized Hospital, all decision related to medication was made by Dr. Israt Jahan Lucky. No one took our permission before assigning Dr. Israt Jahan Lucky. She continued pushing high-powered antibiotic injection even before ascertaining the reason of fever. As pushing high-powered antibiotics injections and saline continued, my daughter’s health condition began deteriorating. Doctors were telling us our daughter was suffering from typhoid and then they said it was malaria. Although we were billed for tests, there has not been any test at all.

“The only target of them was to increase the amount of bill. They forcibly shifted my daughter at PICU on September 9 with the claim of chest infection. She was visibly tortured from 11 at night until 4 in the morning. I heard my daughter screaming of pain. She was asking for water. Even after her death, they planned to keep her under life support for a week”.

Mother of the child told vernacular daily Jugantor that no one from the hospital has spoken to them following the incident. She said “We tried to contact the hospital authorities but did not get any response”.

Jubaida Alam said: “They have killed my daughter. The only reason we are taking legal action is because we feel that injustice must be protested. We demand exemplary punishment for this inhuman incident and such incident should not be repeated. At the same time, we want exemplary punishment for the guilty doctor”.