‘They killed my baby boy, I want justice’

"I had to let my baby boy work because of poverty and they burned my son to death. Now, I want nothing but justice," Fazlur Rahman broke down in tears on Saturday when he came to receive the body of his 11-year-old son Hasnain, who died in the Hashem Food Factory fire in Narayanganj last month.

The bodies of 21 victims of the fire were handed over to their families from the morgue of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on Saturday.

Earlier on 4 August, 24 bodies were handed over to the relatives of the victims.

Families of the victims started coming to the morgue to receive the body of their loved ones from Saturday morning. From 12pm to 1.20pm, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Narayanganj district administration handed over the bodies.

Tuhin Mia came to receive the body of his sister Selina Akter, 15. Like many other victims' relatives, he also demanded punishment to those whose negligence resulted in the fire.

"I hope we get justice. No one deserves such death," he said.

Rajib Hossain came to receive his wife's body. He said, "My 4-year-old son still does not know that his mother is dead. I cannot bring myself to tell him."

He also demanded justice saying, "I know no one cares when we, poor people, die but they locked the gates without thinking about the consequences of the people working inside and I cannot wrap my head around that."

Seven-year-old Shoma Akter was waiting outside the morgue with her father Selim Mia to receive the body of her mother Amrita Begum, 30. But they had to face a unique ordeal.

Amrita's mother Anwara Begum and sister Rozina Begum received the body without letting Selim know and when they were taking the body in the ambulance, Shoma started crying as her grandmother and aunt did not allow her to go with her mother.

Selim too threw a fit at the moment. He said, "They (Anwara and Rozina) first took the Tk2 lakh compensation and now they are taking away my wife's body without even letting my daughter see her mother one last time."

Earlier on 8 July, 51 workers died in the Hashem Food Factory fire in Narayanganj. The bodies of 48 victims were kept in the DMCH morgue.

Imam Hossain, additional deputy inspector general of CID, said, "We have handed over 45 bodies so far to the victims' relatives. The remaining three bodies are being identified at the moment."