Six months ago, 38-year-old Goni Miah left his home in Sreebordi, Sherpur, with hopes of changing his family’s fortune.
A former rice mill worker, Goni believed that pulling a rickshaw in Dhaka would provide the financial stability his family desperately needed.
However, instead of returning with the promise of a better future, Goni’s lifeless body got back home in a coffin, plunging his family into deeper despair.
Goni lived in the Nakhalpara area of Tejgaon. On the evening of July 19, after parking his rickshaw in his garage in Mohakhali, he was making his way home when a stray bullet struck him in the chest.
The bullet came amid a clash between the protesters and law enforcers.
Although bystanders rushed him to a nearby private hospital, there was no doctor available.
He was then taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries a few hours later, according to his elder brother, Hafiz Uddin.
The family didn’t even have the financial means to bring his body home. They had to collect money from people to pay the ambulance driver.
Goni’s body eventually returned to his village, Khariya Kazir Char in Sreebordi Upazila, where he was laid to rest.
He left behind a grieving wife and three children, who are now facing an uncertain future without their sole provider.
Goni’s life was a constant struggle to provide for his family. The meagre earnings from his job at the rice mill were not enough to feed his family of five.
Two years ago, he sent his second son, who was only 12 then, to work in a workshop, earning Tk 6,000 a month, as he could no longer afford to keep him in school.
The family was already burdened with a Tk 2 lakh loan, prompting Goni to move to Dhaka in hopes of earning enough to repay the debt.
“My father had dreams of a better life for us,” said 16-year-old Md Shahidul Islam, Goni’s eldest son. “But now, with him gone, I don’t know what will happen to us.”
Goni would send Tk 1,000-1,500 per week, which was the lifeline that kept the family afloat, barely covering their basic needs.
With no savings or property, the family has been relying on the villagers for help.
Shahidul fears that like his younger brother, he may be forced to drop out of school to support his family. Their three-year-old sister’s education is now in jeopardy too.
“We don’t know how we will continue or how we will repay the loan,” Shahidul said.
