Father's burial over, Tujam gets news of daughter's death on way back

Just hours after burying his freedom fighter father, Tujam Uddin received the news of his 20-year-old daughter's death over the phone while returning home from the graveyard in Daulatpur, Kushtia. The family has been devastated by the loss of both father and daughter within a span of only six hours. The heartbreaking incident has cast a pall of gloom over the Eastpara village in the upazila.

The incident took place on Saturday (July 25) morning. The grandfather and granddaughter were buried in the same graveyard on the same day, leaving relatives and locals in tears.

According to family and local sources, Bir Muktijoddha Fulbas Ali (74) of Eastpara village, adjacent to the upazila parishad in Daulatpur Sadar Union, died on Friday afternoon due to old age. He was buried with state honour at the Manikdia graveyard on Saturday morning at 10am, in the presence of Upazila Assistant Commissioner (Land) Pradeep Kumar Das.

As the family was returning home after the burial, they learned that Fulbas Ali's beloved granddaughter, Munni Khatun, had died while undergoing treatment. According to the family, Munni had been the primary caregiver for her grandfather until her marriage. On Friday night, while sitting beside her grandfather's body and wailing, she fell ill and lost consciousness. She was taken to Kushtia Sadar Hospital, and as her condition deteriorated, she was being taken to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital on Saturday morning when she died on the way.

Relatives said that the grandfather and granddaughter, who had a close bond during his lifetime, were buried side by side in the same graveyard in the afternoon after Munni's body was brought home.

Local residents said that while they bid farewell to a freedom fighter with state honour in the morning, the news of his granddaughter's death within hours left the entire village in mourning. They had never witnessed such a tragic incident of grandfather and granddaughter being buried side by side on the same day.