Bishakha Devnath

Three-and-a-half-year-old Ashfia Waniya slumped over a desk at the children's ward in a city hospital on November 4, her legs swinging below. She was waiting for her turn to come for a diabetes checkup.

It is with both despair and indifference that I have witnessed the episodes that have unfolded following the TV talk show in which barrister Mainul Hosein insulted journalist Masuda Bhatti by saying she was "choritroheen" (immoral), when asked tough questions.

There were three Ripons in the same friend circle. That's why one of them was given the nickname Sipon. That name, affectionately tossed out, cost the man 16 years of his life, following a murder in the Old Dhaka area where he used to reside with his family.

Abul Kalam dabs a wet swab on a baby's right arm, unperturbed by the infant's scream in pain from burns. His experienced gloved hands run quickly and carefully from the child's elbow down to his fingers as he dresses the wounds.

Writhing in pain on the floor of the female ward of Dhaka Medical College Hospital's burn unit, Anjuara Begum still kept looking beside her to check on her son who was sedated and placed next to her.

Farming is in her blood. As the daughter of a farmer, Shilpi Begum grew up well acquainted with the expertise of growing paddy and vegetables, and rearing livestock. The experience came of great use when she had to shoulder the responsibility of pulling her family,

Paper cut outs of butterflies adorning the walls are the only traces of the room's previous occupant -- 14-year old Suraiya Akhter Risha. Her parents had removed all her photos as the days after her murder turned into months and then years.

Abul Bashar went back home on Wednesday having waited for a heart surgery for two weeks at a public hospital in Dhaka. Exhausted from seeking out all the options, the 70-year-old and his family decided to give in to what fate has in store for them.

The breakthrough discovery of optical biomarkers that can help diagnose cancer has opened up a new field of research and work must continue to get greater benefits from it, said Yasmeen Haque, who led the team behind the discovery.

Mohafez Rahman from Kurigram had to have both of his legs amputated from below the knee recently at Rangpur Medical College Hospital.

Forty-year-old Abu Kalam dug into the towering garbage pile in search of bones at the landfill in the capital's Matuail. He seemed unperturbed by the foul smell which had perhaps taken a backseat to the money he could earn by selling discarded animal parts.

On July 28, fourth-grader Kirtika Tripura Chakma left her school premises to have a quick lunch at her home nearby. When her classes began after the midday break, she had not returned.

It was a moment of pride when Parimal Kumar Das got his autistic son's SSC results this year, but memories of being turned down by other schools flashed through his mind.

It was when Bangladesh opened its doors last year to Rohingya refugees escaping genocide at the hands of army personnel and

Rahima Begum returned to Dhaka from Saudi Arabia on March 21 with nothing but the scars and memories of the torture back in Riyadh. Her husband, refusing to accept her back, had left.

Sahanara had brought her daughter Samia Akhter Sumaiya, 6, to Dhaka for treatment at the Nitor, commonly known as Pongu hospital. As soon as she reached the public hospital at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, a broker lured her to Crescent Hospital and Diagnostic Complex Limited in Mohammadpur, promising better treatment at a cheaper cost.

Rani Bala cannot remember much about her life before she was brought to a shelter home at Abdullahpur in the capital. After her daughter and son turned her away, homeless Rani wandered around the streets of Shanir Akhra for two years.

If a rape victim is an adult woman or a mother, it is highly difficult for her to get justice because of the existing evidence law.

The HC, while delivering the judgment, pointed out a few loopholes in the investigation and the case the prosecution presented. Coupled with the absence of medical evidence, the court decided to acquit the accused.

At the tender age of 13, when she should be out playing with friends or studying, her life now revolves around tending to a son born out of rape.