Dream shattered
Just five months ago, 28-year-old eye doctor Akhter Jahan Rumpa married dental surgeon Kaji Mohsin Faruq. Their wedding reception was scheduled for next month after which she was supposed to formally move into her in-law's house.
Things were going according to plan.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. But everything changed the moment a speeding bus rammed the CNG-run auto-rickshaw Rumpa was in, and brought her life to an abrupt and tragic end. The accident took place in the early hours of yesterday at the capital's Bijoy Sarani.
Rumpa, an optometrist of the pediatric unit in VARD Eye Hospital of Sylhet, came to the capital for an interview at Bangladesh Eye Hospital in Dhanmondi. She reached the Mohakhali bus stand around 4:30am from Sylhet.
Her husband, Mohsin, has private chambers in Cox's Bazar and Chattogram. He, too, was coming to Dhaka from Chattogram to meet his wife.
After reaching Mohakhali, Rumpa called her husband around 4:45am.
“When we had the last conversation, my bus was at Cumilla. I then asked Rumpa to go to Shyamoli and wait there for me as her interview was in Dhanmondi,” Mohsin told The Daily Star.
Rumpa then took the auto-rickshaw to go to Shyamoli. When she was crossing Bijoy Sarani around 5:00pm, a speeding bus, coming from Farmgate, hit the auto-rickshaw from the right, according to police and witnesses.
Some workers nearby rushed Rumpa to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), where doctors declared her dead around 5:20am, said Bachchu Mia, officer-in-charge of DMCH police outpost.
One of the workers, Abu Hanif Shamim, said they were working to set up a signboard at the Bijoy Sarani intersection.
“Suddenly, we saw a speeding white Volvo bus of Greenline Paribahan hit the auto-rickshaw. The bus staffers first stopped and opened the door to observe the situation. When they realised that the situation was bad, they locked the door and drove away, hitting the auto-rickshaw once again,” he added.
“I reached Dhaka around 7:30am. When I called my wife's cell phone, a police official received the call and told me about the accident. I went to DCMH and found her dead,” said Mohsin.
In a voice quivering with devastation, Mohsin said he was supposed to meet his wife yesterday after a long time.
“We met at last, but after her death.”
Biddyut, the driver of the CNG-run auto-rickshaw, was also undergoing treatment in a local hospital with critical injuries.
Contacted, Mazharul Islam, officer-in-charge of Tejgaon Police Station, told The Daily Star that the victim's husband filed a case with them accusing unnamed people.
About identifying the bus, the OC said they were trying to arrest the accused and identify the bus from the available video footages.
Abdus Sattar, general manager of Green Line Paribahan, claimed none of their buses was involved in the accident.
Hailing from Halisahar of Chattogram, Rumpa was the second of three children to retired family planning officer Akteruzzaman and his wife Nurjahan Begum. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Optometry at the Pahartali Eye Hospital campus at Institute of Community Ophthalmology.
Mohsin said the accident was a clear case of reckless driving. “I want exemplary punishment to those people responsible for the murder,” he added.
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