HC forms new committee to probe Ayaan's death

The High Court has formed a new five-member committee to investigate the death of child Ayaan Ahmed, who died during a circumcision procedure at United Medical College Hospital in Dhaka.

The five-member is requested to investigate the matter and submit a report to the court within a month from the date of receiving the order.

The head of the committee is — Professor ABM Maksudul Alam, dean of the Department of Anesthesiology at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital. The other members include — Professor Sushankar Kumar Mandal from the Pediatric Surgery Department of BSMMU, Professor Hafizur Rahman from the Law Department of Dhaka University, Professor Aminur Rashid from the Pediatric Surgery Department of Dhaka Shishu Hospital, and Associate Professor Sathi Dastidar from the National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine (NIPSOM).

The High Court on Tuesday made the directive while releasing the full written order which was delivered on February 20.

During the hearing, responding to the shortcomings of the initial investigation, the High Court took the step of forming a new probe committee tasked with re-examining the circumstances leading to Ayaan's untimely demise at the hospital on January 7.

The written order said that the Directorate General of Health Services' investigation report on the death of child Ayaan Ahmed was "based on assumptions."

The order stated: "It is suspicious that three out of the four members of the investigative committee formed by the DGHS were from the same medical college [Mugda Medical College] while there are many skilled doctors in the country. It appears that the committee has based its report on assumptions."

"We have carefully considered the arguments of both sides and reviewed the information on record. There is no dispute that Ayaan's condition deteriorated due to the method of anesthesia before the circumcision."

"There is no doubt that Ayaan was admitted to the hospital solely for circumcision. However, his death was not conclusively addressed by the four-member committee formed by the Health Services division. Instead, the committee speculated in their report that child Ayaan suffered from bronchial asthma, raising questions about the actual cause of death."

Earlier on January 29, right after the submission of the DGHS report, the High Court bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md Atabullah said the report that the investigation committee of the Directorate of Health submitted was "ridiculous" and it had been published to "eyewash" people.