Pellets pierced his eyes, head and body

A 16-year-old orphan fatally shot in the head in Bogura. At least 400 lives (the actual number could be much higher) were lost when law enforcers opened fire on protesters during the recent unrest. But these victims are not just statistics; they are children, parents, and friends. In this report, we try to know the stories of three such names among these tragic numbers.
Md Siam Shuvo, a 16-year-old orphan from the Haddipatti area of Bogura town, was the first person to be killed in the district, during the student protests for quota reform in government jobs, on July 19.
Shuvo lived with his foster parents Ashik, a bus driver in Haddipatti area, and Shapla Khatun.
He used to collect old plastic bottles and scraps from around the town and sell them to recycling shops. The money he earned, he would give to his foster mother.
On the afternoon of July 19, Shuvo went out to collect scraps in the town’s Amtola area like any other day. Around 4:00pm, protesters from the Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement were blocking the Satmata-Tinmatha road. Police tried to disperse them by spraying hot water from a water cannon, but they were unsuccessful.
Then a clash ensued between protesters and policemen. An armoured police car came to the spot around 5:20pm and the policemen began firing pellets at the protesters indiscriminately, said Saikat Ali, a coordinator of the student protesters who was there.
During the firing, Shuvo slipped and fell while trying to flee from the spot. As he stood up again, he was hit by several pellets in his head, body and both of his eyes. Some protesters rushed him to the nearby Bogura Nursing Home, where the on-duty doctor, Md Moshiur, declared him dead at 6:30pm.
However, some protesters took his body to Bogura Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital, hoping that he might still be alive, but the on-duty doctor there declared him to be dead as well.
Thus, Shuvo became the first person to lose his life amid protests in Bogura.
“Shuvo suffered a severe head injury as pellets entered his skull. He died of intracranial hemorrhage,” said Md Saleh, a medical officer at the emergency department of the hospital.
Shuvo’s identity could not be ascertained till around 8:30pm. Later, his foster parents were informed and they collected his body from the hospital.
“Shuvo had been living with us since he was seven-years-old. His real father was Bablu Mia of Karihat village under Nandigram upazila. Bablu had passed away earlier,” said Ashik.
“I also used to collect bottles in the past, when one day I met Shuvo at Bogura Railway Station premises some nine years back. The small boy came and hugged me and called me mother. Since then, he lived with us. We have four children, but we loved him as our own son,” said Shapla.
“We searched for Shuvo’s family but found no one. He also refused to leave us. I demand justice for my Shuvo’s death,” she added.