A 17-year-old died on Friday (April 4) after enduring months of pain from gunshot wounds sustained during the July Revolution on Dhaka's highways.

Md. Ashiqur Rahman Hridoy died around 3 pm at Bauphal Upazila Health Complex of Patuaohali following over eight months of medical treatment.

Hridoy, the son of Ansar Hawladar from Paschim Jauta village in Bauphal Sadar, was injured on July 18 when he was shot three times in the head by police during protests in Jatrabari. 

Fearing reprisals from the then autocratic government, he initially sought treatment in secret. After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime on August 5, Hridoy was treated at Dhaka Medical College, where two bullets were successfully removed from his head. 

However, doctors were unable to extract the third, as it posed a severe risk.

Despite ongoing health complications, including recurrent fevers, Hridoy’s condition worsened in early April. His family rushed him to the Upazila Health Complex on Friday afternoon, but he succumbed to his injuries later that day.

Hridoy's father, Ansar Hawladar, lamented the lack of advanced medical care: "I could not get my son the treatment he needed. I tried everything I could, selling my rickshaw and a cow, but it was not enough to save him."

His older brother, Md. Sohag Islam Anis, echoed the family’s heartbreak, saying, "The bullet left inside his head caused him immense pain. He suffered constantly, and no one helped us provide him with proper treatment."

Upazila Health Officer A. Rouf confirmed that when Hridoy was brought to the hospital, his condition was critical. “We recommended immediate transfer to Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital, but the family could not manage to transport him in time,” Rouf said.

BDST: 1151 HRS, APR 05, 2025
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