Lost in a dark pit?

It totally defies credulity to think of the vengeful killing of a 5-year-old baby girl. But in reality, it did occur in a village under Santhia upazila in Pabna the other day. The poor tiny tot was accompanying her father during a walk outside his house. As the print media has reported, the poor father at some time got engaged in a violent altercation with his neighbours over a small matter. At one point of heated exchanges, the enraged neighbours swooped on the man. He failed to resist them. Hearing about it the man's relatives rushed to the venue to rescue him. This infuriated the neighbours, prompting them to start beating the man more severely. Out of fright the daughter jumped on the lap of her father. The matter finally met an inhuman ending. The powerful assailants did not spare the little girl; they beat her mercilessly. She received grievous injuries from the brutal assaults unleashed on her frail body. The girl later died at the local hospital. The incident amply shows the extent to which our society has decayed, and reached the bottom of a dark pit. This darkness is devouring all human values. What was the little girl's fault?

The girl's death brings to mind the cases of brutalities children have been subject to in the country lately. A number of children had to meet untimely deaths due to the savageries of adults. Perhaps few countries are used to witnessing pathetic child deaths at casual frequency that Bangladesh has been experiencing these days.

Mobarak Hossain

Rayer Bazar, Dhaka