A child who was set afire by a quack for treatment died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday after fighting for life for 34 days.
Seven-year-old Fazle Rabbi of Bagmara in Rajshahi, who had neurological problems, was taken to local quack Abdul Wahed. The quack told his guardians the boy was caught by a genie and needed a ‘fire treatment’ to drive it away.
On October 20 midnight Wahed set Rabbi on fire to “oust the genie living inside him and causing severe headache”.
Seriously burned Rabbi was first taken to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital and later shifted to the DMCH burn unit on October 24.
Dr Samanta Lal Sen, project director of the Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit, told The Daily Star around 40 percent of the boy’s lower part was burned. Excessive heat and direct fire had caused serious damage to his body.
Amena Khatun, grandmother of the boy, said, “Wahed told us that Rabbi’s headache would be healed if the genie was ousted. He also said the genie would flee because of fire.”
Rabbi was first taken to RMCH in the first week of October when he had the headache. Seeing no improvement his family took him to the quack in Sripur village in Bagmara.
“Wahed put the boy on the ground and dug a two-foot-deep circling him. on the yard in front of his house. He poured fuel into the pit and put the boy onto it tying him with a banana tree. Then his assistant set fire to the fuel,” she added.
Terrified by that day’s experience, Amena burst into tears when she was talking to this correspondent.
“The quack ordered his assistant to hold Rabbi in the fire as long as he (quack) prostrated. My grandson was screaming in pain. But the quack did not allow anybody to touch him saying it was the genie, not Rabbi, that was screaming,” Amena continued.
“After a long time the assistant got Rabbi out of the fire. The assistant also suffered burns during the process,” she said.
Rabbi’s father Md Kawsar, a rickshaw-van puller, filed a case with Bagmara police against Wahed on October 21.
He told The Daily Star the quack had taken Tk 2,000 from them saying he would cure Rabbi.
Harun-ur-Rashid, officer-in-charge of Bagmara police station, said yesterday evening they had arrested Wahed and his assistant and taken the quack on two-day remand.
