News in Brief-(2024-03-23)

FE Team | Published: March 23, 2024 00:05:08

42 more Covid-19 cases reported
Bangladesh reported 42 Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours until Friday morning. With the new numbers, the country's total COVID-19 caseload rose to 2,049,329, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The official death toll from the disease remain unchanged at 29,493 as no new fatalities were reported during this period. The daily case test positivity rate stood at 6.11 per cent as 687 samples were tested, said the DGHS. The recovery and death rates stood at 98.4 per cent and 1.44 per cent, respectively. — UNB
Two suffer burns in N'ganj gas cylinder blast
Two women have sustained burn injuries after a gas cylinder leak triggered a fire in Narayanganj's Siddhirganj upazila. The Narayanganj Fire Service and Civil Defence's Deputy Assistant Director Fakhar Uddin Ahammad said the fire broke out around 9:30pm on Thursday. The burn victims are Irene (30) and her neighbour Jannat (28), both identified with a single name. According to Irene's husband Rubel who also identified himself with a single name, his wife and Jannat were cooking in the kitchen when the gas from the leaking cylinder sparked a fire. Both Irene and Jannat were rushed to the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery hospital for treatment. Dr Tariqul Islam, the resident surgeon of the hospital, said, "Irene and Jannat sustained 2 per cent and 10 per cent burns on their body, respectively. We released them after they were given first aid." According to Fakhar Uddin, a firefighting unit from Demra Fire Service was dispatched when they were notified of the incident. — bdnews24.com
Mother among two jailed for life for killing minor girl
A Dhaka court has sentenced Rozina Akhtar and a man named Sultan Mahmud to life-term imprisonment for killing a minor girl. They have also to pay Tk 50,000 as fine. In default, they have to serve six months more in jail. Judge Syed Arafat Hossain of Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 handed down the verdict on Thursday. Sultan was brought to the court from prison during the verdict, and sent him to jail after the verdict was pronounced. As Rozina Akhter is absconding, the court issued an arrest warrant against her. According to the case, Rozina Akhtar went to see a doctor at the gynecological ward of Dhaka Medical College (DMCH) Hospital on January 3, 2012 at around 11:00 am. As she went inside the doctor's room, leaving her daughter outside, Sultan came and took the girl to another place, introducing himself as the father of the baby. Later, the girl's body was found on the roof of the third floor around 1:45 pm. Nurul Islam, the girl's actual father, filed a case with the Shahbag thana on January 5, accusing unknown persons of this incident. Sultan, during the investigation, gave a confessional statement, saying that due to extramarital affairs, he and Rozina conspired to kill the child by suffocation. — BSS