Shamsun Nahar Schoolteacher Shamsun Nahar Jharna bade farewell to her old school just the day before yesterday for a greater cause. After serving as a senior teacher in the capital's Tawheed Laboratory School at Agargaon since 2002, she was about to join a school in one of the remotest areas in Ramgati of Laxmipur, to teach underprivileged children there. But the noble idea saw an abrupt end with
Nahar, 37, died after sustaining injuries in her forehead from brickbats hurled by pro-hartal activists in Noakhali yesterday, becoming another innocent victim of the country's ill politics. The nationwide dawn-to-dusk hartal was enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance protesting the government's “foiling” of its Gazipur rally and arrests of party men. Nahar, a mother of two sons, along with her husband and younger son was beside the driver's seat of a covered van that was carrying their family belongings to Ramgati, reports our Noakhali correspondent. “We were supposed to reach Laxmipur early morning but dense fog forced the driver to drive the van slowly,” said her husband Shahjahan Seraj. When the van reached near Noakhali Municipality Market around 9:45am, some pickets threw bricks at the vehicle, said Anwar Hossain, officer-in-charge of Sudharam Police Station, quoting witnesses. Advertisement After penetrating the van's front windshield, a brick chip hit her forehead, said Seraj, an insurance company manager in Dhaka. He added they started for their village home from Dhaka around 1:00am yesterday on the van. Unconscious Nahar was taken to Noakhali Abdul Malek Ukil Medical College Hospital where doctors declared her dead. “She suffered brain injuries caused by a heavy object in the right side of her forehead,” said Resident Medical Officer Farid Uddin of the hospital. After an autopsy, her body was handed over to family members yesterday. Police arrested eight suspected pickets from different spots in the town, said Elias Sharif, superintendent of police in Noakhali. Police identified two of them as local Chhatra Dal activists Himel and Hridoy. Nahar's former colleagues in Dhaka said she was a most punctual and beloved teacher at her school. “Although she was a senior teacher, she loved to teach infants. On the other hand, the infants loved her as they perhaps found her to be motherly,” said Mursheda Khatun, principal of the school, told The Daily Star. The school authority bade her official farewell on December 22 but she went to the school on Sunday again to say goodbye to her colleagues for the last time. “She would reach the school by eight in the morning and ask for a glass of water. That is how she started her work each day,” said Emran Hossain, a peon at the school. She also wrote a book titled “Shishur Bangla Pora” for class one student. BLAST BLOWS OFF HOUSEWIFE'S WRISTS In Bogra, both wrists of a housewife were blown off by an explosion at Sonatola upazila yesterday afternoon. The blast happened during the hartal, but it was not clear who was responsible for it. The victim is Rebeka Sultana Ranjana, 28, wife of Rezaul Karim, general secretary of the ruling Awami League's Digdair Union unit, reports our Bogra correspondent. Locals said Rebeka saw a bag at her kitchen at Mulgram village around 2:00pm. The explosion took place when she was about to throw away the bag, taking it for a garbage bag into a dustbin outside her house. She was rushed to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital in Bogra town. Her husband blamed pickets for the blast. Selim Uddin, officer-in-charge of Sonatola Police Station, said they would investigate the matter before making a conclusion.
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