The death of seven-year-old Jannatul Nisha Ira is shocking and deeply painful. But even more frightening. Her little body gave in early Tuesday after three days at Chattogram Medical College Hospital. Ira was rescued on Sunday morning from a remote area near the Sahasradhara waterfall inside the Sitakunda Botanical Garden and Eco Park.
Workers repairing the Chandranath Temple Road found her lying beside a hilly path. Her throat slit, Ira was left there to die. They tried to stop her bleeding and wrapped clothes around her neck. She was rushed to Sitakunda Upazila Health Complex and later transferred to Chattogram Medical College Hospital, where doctors operated on her. On Monday, she was moved to the One Stop Crisis Cell.
This is not just any other murder. This was just a seven-year-old strolling through an eco park. She did not have money or jewellery to speak of. Why would her assailants want to kill her so brutally, is something that will perhaps elude us till the perpetrators are caught. But it is indeed a dark day as it gradually sinks into us—our cities and parks are not quite safe for children. That is not just a family tragedy. It is a warning sign for the entire nation.
Parents across the country must now be horrified, wondering how ensure the safety of their little children. In this patently unsafe world, children appear to be attracting even more brutality, whereas they should be the ones enjoying everyone’s affection and protection. If children are not safe, then we have simply failed to build a world fit for anyone really. Are our law enforcement agencies strong and active enough to prevent such crimes?
The police have said the child’s mother filed a case for attempted murder and that they are trying to identify the criminal. One only hopes that there will be more than statements and that the police will act promptly. The investigation has to be quick, and so does the trial. Particularly harsh sentences should be reserved for such cases just to send messages to perpetrators that the law will eventually catch up, and once it does, they will not be spared.
While it may give some of us closure, we must also grapple with the prospect that this society we have built, that this world we have built is producing monsters. One way or another it is certainly a collective failure. One way or another, we must have contributed towards building this society. One way or another, however little it might be, we must also have had a hand in the murder of Ira. We need to own up and do what we can to give back what he had helped take with our apathy and nonchalance. We owe our children a safer country.
