A 13-year-old girl’s death at Islami Bank Hospital in Dhaka’s Shahjahanpur area has led to vandalism at the facility, with her family alleging medical negligence and demanding compensation.
Police said the incident took place late on Sunday night, following the death of the teenager, identified as Mahima. The family reportedly accused the hospital of failing to carry out surgery in time after doctors diagnosed a ruptured appendix. The hospital, however, said the girl had been brought in in a critical condition.
According to police, Mahima was taken to the hospital on Friday evening after experiencing severe abdominal pain. Following an initial assessment in the emergency department, doctors advised an ultrasound examination. The scan reportedly showed that her appendix had ruptured.
Hospital authorities said preparations were subsequently made for surgery. However, before Mahima could be taken into the operating theatre, she died on Saturday morning.
Her relatives have disputed the hospital’s account. They told police that doctors had failed to provide timely treatment and that the teenager could have been saved had the necessary surgery been carried out earlier.
The disagreement over the circumstances surrounding her death later escalated into a dispute over compensation. Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s (DMP) Motijheel Division Additional Deputy Commissioner Rezwanul Islam said the family had sought compensation from the hospital following Mahima’s death. When the demand was not met, relatives allegedly attacked the hospital and damaged property, according to police.
The incident has brought renewed attention to the sensitive relationship between patients’ families and healthcare providers when a death occurs during treatment. In cases involving serious medical complications, determining whether a patient’s condition was already critical or whether treatment was delayed can require a detailed review of medical records, diagnostic reports and the timeline of treatment.
A ruptured appendix can be a serious medical emergency because the condition may lead to infection inside the abdomen and other potentially life-threatening complications. The timing of diagnosis and treatment can therefore be significant, particularly when a patient arrives at a hospital with severe symptoms.
In Mahima’s case, however, the available information presents two differing accounts. The hospital maintains that she was in a serious condition when brought in and that preparations for surgery had begun. Her family, on the other hand, alleges that treatment was not provided quickly enough.
The police are looking into the circumstances surrounding the incident. Establishing whether there was any medical negligence would require assessment of the treatment provided and the sequence of events leading up to the teenager’s death.
At the same time, the vandalism has raised concerns about how disputes over medical treatment are handled. While families have the right to seek explanations and pursue complaints if they believe a patient was treated improperly, violence or damage to hospital property can further complicate an already distressing situation.
A clear investigation into Mahima’s death could help establish the facts and determine whether any lapse occurred in her treatment.
