Four Children Buried Side by Side After Canal Tragedy

Grief engulfed a village in Narsingdi’s Raipura upazila as four schoolgirls who drowned while bathing in a canal were laid to rest side by side following a joint funeral prayer. The funeral took place on Thursday evening at the local Eidgah ground before hundreds of mourners gathered to bid a final farewell. The children were later buried in adjacent graves at a nearby community cemetery, reflecting the close bond they had shared in life.

The victims were Tabia, 13, daughter of Shamim Mia; Ayesha, 9, daughter of Rubel Mia; Jannat, 8, daughter of Md Rubel; and Sumaiya, 10, daughter of Billal Mia. All four lived in Borokanda village under Chanderkandi Union in Raipura upazila and were students of the local Gausia Nure Madina Women’s Madrasa.

The tragedy unfolded on Thursday afternoon when the children went to bathe in a nearby canal. According to local residents and family members, the girls entered the water without informing anyone at home. None of them knew how to swim. Although the canal remains largely dry during the dry season, it fills to the brim during the monsoon, making it significantly more dangerous for children.

Chanderkandi Union Parishad Chairman Mezbah Uddin Khandaker Mithul said the four girls had grown up together in neighbouring homes and spent much of their time playing together. They had gone to the canal as a group and tragically lost their lives together. Given their close friendship and the proximity of their families, local residents decided that they should be honoured with a joint funeral prayer and buried beside one another.

The incident has left the entire community in mourning. Villagers described scenes of profound sorrow as relatives, neighbours and well-wishers gathered to offer prayers for the children. Many struggled to hold back tears as the four coffins were carried together to the cemetery.

Conversations with the bereaved families revealed that all four households face severe financial hardship. Tabia’s father, Shamim Mia, works as a daily wage labourer. Ayesha’s father earns a modest living selling bananas at local markets. Jannat’s father works as a mason, while Sumaiya’s father survives on irregular day labour and other temporary jobs.

The personal accounts of the parents underscored the depth of their loss.

Shamim Mia said he had been waiting at a railway station to board a train to Dhaka when he received a phone call informing him that his daughter had fallen into the water. He rushed to the hospital only to find her lifeless body. Tabia was his only daughter. Still struggling to comprehend the tragedy, he said she was supposed to be at the madrasa and could not understand how she had ended up at the canal.

In another grief-stricken household, Ayesha’s father, Rubel Mia, sat silently in a corner of his modest tin-roofed home, overwhelmed by emotion. He said his daughter’s cheerful nature and playful behaviour had helped him forget the hardships of poverty. Now, he said, the house felt unbearably empty.

Local authorities handed over the bodies to the families without conducting post-mortem examinations after relatives formally requested that no autopsies be carried out and raised no allegations regarding the deaths.

Raipura Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mujibur Rahman said the bodies were released to the families following written applications from relatives. With no complaints or suspicions surrounding the incident, the legal formalities were completed before the children were taken back to their village for burial.

The upazila administration provided each bereaved family with immediate financial assistance of Tk20,000 to help them cope with the aftermath of the tragedy.

Before the community had recovered from the devastating loss, another heartbreaking drowning incident struck the same upazila. At around 11:00 am on Friday, two more children died after entering the Meghna River to bathe in Bheluarchar of Sayedabad village under Srinagar Union.

The victims were identified as Jannati Akter, 8, daughter of Nuruzzaman, and Nipa Akter, 7, daughter of Saddam Mia, both residents of the Bheluarchar area.

The two back-to-back incidents have intensified grief across Raipura and once again drawn attention to the recurring danger of child drownings during Bangladesh’s monsoon season, particularly in rural areas where canals, rivers and other open water bodies become swollen with rainwater. The tragedies have renewed calls from local residents for greater parental awareness, closer supervision of children and stronger community efforts to improve water safety and prevent similar losses in the future.