Two young children have lost their lives in a drowning incident in the Jaintiapur upazila of Sylhet district. The tragic accident occurred on Friday afternoon, 22 May, in Shikarkha village, which is situated under the jurisdiction of the Fatehpur union within the upazila. The deceased minors have been identified by authorities and family members as five-year-old Rafa Akhter Maisha, the daughter of Kobir Ahmed, and four-year-old Munna Ahmad, the son of Saleh Ahmed. The two children were paternal cousins residing in the same village.
Sequence of events leading to the accident
According to accounts provided by local residents and members of the grieving family, the sequence of events began on Friday afternoon when the children’s paternal uncle, identified as Jakaria Ahmed, left the residential premises. He was heading towards a nearby haor—a wetland ecosystem characteristic of the north-eastern region of Bangladesh—in order to graze cattle.
As Jakaria Ahmed departed the homestead, the two young cousins, Rafa Akhter Maisha and Munna Ahmad, decided to follow him out. Upon noticing that the young children were trailing behind him towards the wetland area, the uncle instructed them to cease following him and directed them to return home immediately. After issuing these instructions, he proceeded towards the pastures with his cattle, assuming the minors would return safely to the family residence.
However, the children did not return to the house as expected. At approximately 02:00 pm, family members noticed the prolonged absence of the two children and grew concerned regarding their whereabouts. Failing to locate them within the immediate household premises, the relatives initiated a search operation across the surrounding neighbourhood and adjoining fields.
Discovery, recovery, and police procedure
During the course of the localized search, family members and neighbours inspected a waterbody located adjacent to a pond near the homestead, known locally as the Rahurkhal canal. It was at this location that the lifeless bodies of the two young cousins were discovered floating on the surface of the water.
With the assistance of local residents who had gathered at the scene, the family members managed to retrieve the unconscious bodies of the children from the canal. Hoping to revive them, the rescuers immediately transported both Rafa Akhter Maisha and Munna Ahmad to a nearby private medical facility. Upon arrival at the hospital, the emergency medical officer on duty conducted clinical evaluations and officially pronounced both children dead, confirming that they had succumbed to drowning prior to reaching the hospital.
Following the tragic confirmation of their deaths, the administrative and law enforcement procedures were initiated. The Officer-in-Charge (OC) of the Jaintiapur police station, Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman Molla, confirmed the details of the drowning incident to the media. He stated that the local police had been formally notified of the deaths of the two minor cousins in Shikarkha village.
The Officer-in-Charge further revealed that the relatives of the deceased children had submitted a formal written application to the police department requesting an exemption from the mandatory post-mortem examinations. The family expressed a desire to receive the bodies directly for burial rituals without undergoing an autopsy. The police official noted that, subject to receiving official clearance and permission from higher administrative authorities, the bodies of the two children would be legally handed over to the family members for their final rites.