It was with boundless hopes that Shorufa Akhter Nila started out from home to attend her first day at college yesterday morning. Litde did she know about the fatality that the illegal

three-wheeler brought about on the way, bringing a catastrophic end to her dreams of a different life.

As the battery-run easy bike she boarded moved past Lalbagh fort,Nila s scan got tangled in one of the wheels and knotted tightly around her neck, strangling her to death. She was heading to Azimpur High School and College along with her mother, sister and a friend.

"We were chatting away cheerfully and did not notice how Nila's scarf entangled itself with the wheel. She suddenly stooped over and fell on the floor of the vehicle," said Iti, her friend.

Although the driver stopped the vehicle immediately, Nila died by the time she was taken to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Nurul Muttakin, officer-in-charge of Lalbagh Police Station, said they seized the vehicle and detained the driver.

“An unnatural death case was filed with the station. However, Nila's family member took the body away without an autopsy," said Muttakin.

Harun-ar-Rashid, deputy commissioner of Lalbagh division, told The Daily Star that easy bikes are not authorised to ply the city road. I really do not know how they still ply the streets illegally."

Nila, eldest daughter of the boatman, Abdul Halim, had recently got admission at Azimpur High School and College after passing her SSC from Kamrangirchar Ashrafabad High School with GPA-4.19.