A ten-year-old student died following a fall from the rooftop of a residential madrasa in the capital’s West Jurain area on Sunday night. The incident has left grieving family members and local residents demanding a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the fatal fall.
The victim, identified as ten-year-old Yamin, was enrolled in the hifz department at the Tashfilul Quran Hafezi Madrasa. He resided with his family in the Mohammadbagh neighbourhood of Kadamtali, with his father named Rafiqul Islam.
According to accounts provided by family members and institution officials, Yamin had returned home last Wednesday for a scheduled break. When the holiday concluded and it was time to return to his studies, the child expressed strong reluctance to go back to the residential facility. Despite his protests, family members insisted and brought him back to the madrasa. Tragically, just hours after his return, fatal tragedy struck.
The institution’s principal, Ferdous Ahmed, explained that the boy’s father had telephoned him prior to his return, mentioning that Yamin was unwilling to come back and asking for assistance. The principal did not go to fetch him, and the child was ultimately escorted back to the premises on Sunday night by his maternal grandmother.
Recounting the sequence of events leading up to the tragedy, the principal stated that he spotted Yamin standing in the fourth-floor stairwell talking with other pupils shortly after his arrival. He instructed the boy to head downstairs for dinner before walking away. Moments later, word spread through the building that Yamin had fallen from the fourth-floor roof.
Staff members rushed to the ground floor, where they found the child severely injured. They immediately transported him in a critical condition to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where attending physicians pronounced him dead upon arrival.
Despite these accounts, the precise sequence of events leading to the fall remains unclear. Questions have been raised regarding how the young student accessed the roof, the adequacy of safety barriers on the upper levels, and whether adequate supervision was maintained during evening hours. The child’s reluctance to return to the madrasa has also prompted calls for a careful review of the events leading up to the incident.
The child’s body was transferred to the hospital morgue for post-mortem examinations. Inspector Md Faruk, in charge of the police camp at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, confirmed that local law enforcement authorities had been formally notified of the fatality.
Meanwhile, Kadamtali Police Station Officer-in-Charge Sheikh Ashrafuzzaman stated on Monday afternoon that no formal complaint had been lodged by the family at the station. He noted that police had received initial reports of a child sustaining fatal injuries in a fall at an educational institution and that inquiries are currently underway to verify the facts.
As investigations continue, authorities are expected to examine witness statements, building safety measures, and the immediate environmental factors to determine whether the incident was an accident or the result of negligence.
