Injured boy improving

Taj Hossain alias Sourav Mia, who was shot by a lawmaker in Gaibandha a week ago, is getting better every day.

Still admitted to Rangpur Medical College Hospital (RMCH), he now can stand on his feet clutching the edge of his bed and even tries to take a few steps that way, this correspondent found while visiting the hospital on Wednesday afternoon.

During an early morning walk at Brac Intersection near his house in Gopalcharan village of Sundarganj on October 2, the 10-year-old was shot by Gaibandha-1 MP Manzurul Islam Liton, who allegedly was under influence at the time. Two bullets tore through his right leg and one through the left.

The bullets burned his flesh while piercing through, said Jarina, a nurse of the paediatric surgery ward of the RMCH.

"He suffered flesh wounds only, no major damage," she said, adding that Sourav might soon be able to walk on his own.

Babul Kumar Saha, the doctor overseeing the treatment, was not at his office during the visit. He did not answer his phone either.

Meanwhile, Sourav's family was afraid of returning home as the lawmaker was still at large.

"He hasn't yet been arrested. We want to go home but we are afraid," said Sourav's uncle Shahjahan Ali.

Though his father Saju Mia filed a case against the ruling party MP a day after the incident, Liton has so far managed to evade arrest.