In terror-hit Kishoreganj, a bullet cuts short a life at home

Shuvodev Bhowmik was happy that his mother Jharna Rani Bhowmik was making a special meal for them at the kitchen to be part of the Eid day celebrations. Suddenly, gunshots rang out outside and he found his mother lying in a pool of blood.

A bullet came through a window of their house and hit 40-year-old Jharna on her forehead. She died instantly.

Jharna was one of the four people who died in militant attacks on the nation's largest Eid congregation at Sholakia in the central district of Kishoreganj.

After the tragedy, hundreds of neighbours visited their house to express condolences for the family. Jharna's husband Gourango Nath Bhowmik and stepson Basudev Bhowmik were seen talking to them. But Shuvodev was silent.

Family members of Jharna Rani Bhowmik mourn after she died being bullet hit during the attack on Solakia prayer ground on July 7, 2016. Photo: M Azad Abul Kalam

“My mother was making breakfast for us. She cooked vermichilli and was getting ready to make roti [flat bread]. Suddenly, she is no more. How can I accept that? said Basudev Bhowmik, a teacher of Tejgaon Women's College, who went home from Dhaka to reunite with his family during the Eid vacation.

“It is not that she went outside. She was at home, and the window was closed. People are no longer safe even at home,” said Gourango, still surrounded by his neighbours.

The bullet went through the window to hit the woman's head. Photo: M Azad Abul Kalam

She was very happy as her elder son came home. She was cooking a special meal for her sons, said Dulal Chandra Bhowmik, brother of Gourango.

“She was a good soul. She never quarrelled with anybody. She cooked duck meat last night and shared it with us,” said Dulal.

It is very hard to accept that she died this way, said Madhab Chandra, a neighbour of the Bhowmik family.

As the dusk descended on the village, relatives were preparing for the cremation of Jharna.