Infant Akifa's Death: Bus found abandoned, accused still at large

Law enforcers have recovered the bus that hit 13-month-old Akifa Yasmin and her mother in Kushtia on Tuesday, resulting in the death of the infant, but they were yet to arrest the accused driver, his helper and owner of the vehicle.

The bus was found abandoned in Faridpur New Bus Stand area around 10:00pm on Friday, said ASM Mehedi Hasan, superintendent of police in Kushtia.

It was brought back to Kushtia yesterday morning, he said, adding, "We are trying to arrest the accused."

Akifa died of head injuries on Thursday at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. She was critically injured after she fell from the arms of her mother Rina Khatun who was hit by a Ganj-e-Raj Paribahan bus in Chourhas area of Kushtia town around 11:00am.

A CCTV footage obtained by the police shows that the bus was stationary when Rina started crossing the road with Akifa in her arms. As she was about to cross the stationary bus, the driver set off without warning, hitting Rina and Akifa before speeding away.

As Rina fell, the baby dropped from her arms and onto the road causing severe head injuries. Akifa was rushed to Kushtia General Hospital from where she was moved to DMCH. She was buried at Chourhas graveyard on Thursday night.

The next day, Harunur Rashid, her father, filed a case with Kushtia Police Station accusing the three, said Nasir Uddin, officer-in-charge of the police station.

"I want to see my child's killers punished," said a grief-stricken Harun.