Police arrested a sixty-year-old woman from Chattogram's Anwara upazila last night for pouring boiling water on a twelve-year-old girl.

The attack occurred at Waijarbari under Juidondi union on Wednesday.

The accused, Sayera Khatun, allegedly attacked the girl, who is an orphan, for addressing an elderly man and saying "murubbi, murubbi, uhu".

Sayera was taken into custody in the Battali area after the victim's maternal grandfather lodged a case yesterday, said Mohammad Monir Hossen, officer-in-charge (OC) of Anwara Police Station.

The victim, who suffered severe burns from the incident, is receiving treatment at Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH).

OC Monir said, the victim lost her parents years ago and lives with her maternal grandparents in Waijarbari, Juidondi. On Wednesday afternoon, while playing with other children, she and the group saw an elderly neighbor, Yaar Mohammad. The children started calling out to him, saying "murubbi, murubbi, uhu", mimicking a viral social media video.

"Witnesses said that Sayera, wife of Yaar's younger brother Abul Kalam, became furious and scolded the victim," he said.

"She then fetched a bowl of boiling water and poured it on the child's head, causing serious burns," he added.

The victim was initially taken to a local health complex before being transferred to CMCH.

Rafiquddin Ahmed, the head of the burn unit at CMCH, said that the victim has sustained 10 percent burn on her body, mainly on her shoulders and neck.

He added that, for a child, this is considered a severe burn, and her condition is currently critical.

The video that the children imitated features a religious preacher saying "murubbi, murubbi uhu", supposedly telling an elderly person to not do something. The video has been viral on social media for weeks, becoming a popular internet meme, and has led many, including children, to imitate the phrase.