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Free treatment not enough

Burn victims demand compensation

Zyma Islam
Needy arson victims receiving treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital have demanded that their families be given immediate monetary compensation forsurvival.
Khorshed Alam, who operates a CNG-run vehicle in Chittagong, has suffered serious burns in an arson attack on his three-wheeler. His family had to add Tk 15,000 to the pile of mounting debts to bring him to Dhaka for better treatment.
"1 need monetary compensation for the tragedy that befell my husband," said his wife Shamsunnahar at the Burn UnitofDMCH.
Only free medicines are not enough for the sevenmember family to recover from the financial blow, she added.
"The vehicle that the pro-hartal activists burned was not completely paid for. We still have to give an instalment ofTk 50,000. We had saved penny by penny and already paid
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more than Tk 1 lakh. Now we are in a big debt for nothing," lamented Shamsunnahar.
Their eighth grader daughter might be forced to give up her studies as the family was unable to get her admitted to ninth grade.
"She got an A minus in her Junior Secondary' Certificate examination. I could not study much because my father could not afford it. But we were hopeful we could get my three younger sisters educated," sobbed Prima, the eldest daughter of the family.
Khorshed is diabetic. Doctors say he would need at least four months to recover.
"He was burned on December 5. It has barely been a month and I have already borrowed a lot of money. I do not know how I will run the family next month," said Shamsunnahar.
The situation is more or less same for most of the families of the arson victims, who earn their wages on a daily basis.
Kamal, who was burned in Laxmibazar, has no-one to run his tailoring shop and had to leave it shut down.
"Three of my employees have quit because they were not sure if I would return or not," he told The Daily Star.
His wife Polly had not yet paid the rent of their tiny one-room house where the couple lives with two children.
"Whoever is responsible for burning me must give me compensation," pleaded Kamal.
Ten-year-old arson victim Shimuks father ran to this correspondent during the conversation with Kamal yesterday.
"Are you here to help Kamal get any compensation? I want compensation for my son too. I am a rickshaw-puller who has been
grounded at this Burn Unit for more than a month. Doctors have said I need to stay more. My family is living completely on debt," he said.
Both Shimul and Kamal were burned on November 10. The prime minister paid a visit to the Burn Unit on November 30 and directed the authorities to introduce free medication for the arson victims.
Until then, most of the patients' families had to spend a lot for medicines.
Arson victim Munia's family had spent more than Tk 37,000 before they started getting free medicine.
Eight-year-old arson victim Sumi's mother also sees no bright future ahead. "I have got some help initially, but my daughter needs to take medicines for at least three years. I hope her fisherman father will be able to afford it," she added.