Shot on way to work, 18-year-old Roman Ali languishes at DMCH
Roman Ali has been groaning in pain inside ward No 102 of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital's casualty department for four days. He was shot by police last Thursday.
The incident occurred when Roman was crossing a road in Uttara's Azampur and suddenly got caught in the middle of a clash that erupted between police and demonstrators.
"I have no interest in the movement. I do not care who benefits or who suffer a loss in the quota reform. I was just trying to collect some samples for my buying house," Roman told TBS today.
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Roman, son of Rubel Ali, hailing from Poyragadi village in Shirajdikhan upazila of Munshiganj,
works at a buying house in Uttara's Azampur for a monthly salary of Tk15,000.
"After being shot, I dropped on the road. Locals took me to Kuwait Maitri Bangladesh Hospital along with other people who were injured in that clash. I was unconscious for some time. Doctors managed to pull out three bullets from my body while two remained inside," he said.
Roman was transferred to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) later but doctors are yet to remove the remaining two bullets from his body.
"He [Roman] started working after my father was diagnosed with cancer. Selling off all our assets in the village, we came to Dhaka and moved into a rented house near the Azampur kitchen market. Roman is the only bread earner in our family," Roman's elder sister Rimi Akhter told TBS.
Roman's father Rubel Ali, 52, has to take chemotherapy from a hospital in Mohakhali twice a month.
"We did not even know that he [Roman] was shot and struggling for his life. We thought he was working in the office," said Rubel Ali.
Like Roman, another 17-year-old Zaman Mia was undergoing treatment at DMCH. He was shot in front of his residence in Narshindi two days ago.
More than a hundred people were undergoing treatment in DMCH emergency department today, all of whom sustained light to severe injuries in the deadly clashes that occurred across the country in the last four days. Most of the victims are aged between 17 and 25.
According to the DMCH morgue, four people who came to the hospital with bullet wounds on Sunday died. Eight unidentified bodies with bullet wounds were handed over to Shahbagh police station today.
