Tragic Death of Child Rescued from Woods

An eight-year-old girl, who was discovered wounded with a severe neck injury in a remote hilly area of Sitakunda, Chittagong, has tragically died while receiving treatment. The child succumbed to her injuries in the early hours of Monday, at approximately 3:30 a.m., at Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH).

The girl’s uncle confirmed the devastating news to Prothom Alo on Tuesday morning, stating that despite the family’s best efforts to save her, she could not be revived. Preliminary investigations indicate that the child was attacked by an unknown assailant, who allegedly assaulted her and inflicted a knife wound to her neck. In a desperate attempt to survive, the girl reportedly walked through the hilly terrain until she reached an excavator operator working on nearby road repairs, pleading for help.

Her uncle added that the news of her death has left her parents in repeated states of collapse. The child’s body remains in the CMCH morgue pending post-mortem and formal legal procedures, after which it will be returned to the family for burial.

According to police and rescue personnel, the girl was rescued on Sunday morning from a hilly path roughly 500 metres north of the Sahasradhara Waterfall, located within the Sitakunda Botanical Garden and Eco Park. Local labourers engaged in road construction first discovered her and immediately transported her to Sitakunda Upazila Health Complex, before she was transferred to CMCH for advanced care.

A surgical procedure was performed on her neck on the night of her rescue, and she was later moved to the hospital’s One-Stop Crisis Cell (OCC) for intensive monitoring.

Sitakunda Police Officer-in-Charge Md. Mohinul Islam stated that the child’s mother filed a case on Sunday evening against the unknown assailant for abduction and attempted murder. Authorities confirmed that the case will now be upgraded to a murder investigation.

Timeline of Rescue and Treatment

Local police and medical officials have expressed deep concern over the incident, emphasising the urgent need to safeguard children and ensure swift legal action against perpetrators. The tragedy has cast a shadow of mourning across the region, with local authorities standing in support of the bereaved family.

Child protection advocates argue that this case highlights the pressing need for stronger national measures to prevent crimes against children and to improve the responsiveness of law enforcement agencies across Bangladesh.