Investigation opens into death of 7-year-old during circumcision at Chattogram hospital

A five-member committee has been formed to investigate the death of a 7-year-old boy during a circumcision procedure at a private hospital in Chattogram city.

The committee, headed by Deputy Civil Surgeon Md Towhidul Anwar, was constituted on Wednesday.

Civil Surgeon Jahangir Alam told bdnews24.com that it has been asked to submit its report within seven working days.

The child, Md Mostafa, was admitted on Saturday morning to Safe Ideal Healthcare Limited in the Bahaddarhat One Kilometre area of the port city for circumcision.

His father Mohammad Abu Musa said, “After admission in the morning, my son was taken to the operation theatre around 3:30pm.

“The procedure was carried out under the supervision of Md Junaid Chowdhury of the paediatric surgery department at Chattogram Medical College Hospital.”

He added, “In the evening, the hospital authorities informed us that my son needed to be taken to Chattogram Medical College Hospital. He was taken there by ambulance provided by the hospital and admitted to the ICU.

“Around 10pm, we were told that my son had died. The hospital death certificate mentions ‘heart attack’ as the cause of death.”

Although the incident occurred on Saturday, it began circulating on social media on Tuesday.

Chattogram Medical College Hospital ICU chief Harunur Rashid told bdnews24.com, “The child was placed on life support immediately after being brought in and later died. Those who performed the operation can explain what went wrong.”

bdnews24.com could not obtain a comment from Safe Ideal Healthcare Limited.

The child’s father said his son had a urinary tract problem and was taken for surgery, with circumcision planned at the same time.

“My son is gone, everything is finished for me. It was Allah’s will,” he said, adding that he does not plan to file a case over the incident.