Maisha’s passion for English crushed under wheels

Maisha Momtaj Meem was on her way to university on her scooter, which her parents purchased for her so that she can avoid traffic jams on roads. The second-year student of English at North South University had big dreams and a passion for her subject.

But her dream was shattered as a reckless covered van rammed her over in the early hours of Friday.

"This is the first time she has had an accident in the three years she had been driving the white-red scooter," her cousin Nabil Ali Kamrul said on Friday night as they were preparing for her funeral at Gazipur.

"Even wearing a helmet could not save her…She sustained severe injuries in the head," police said.

After she was found wounded at the exit of the Kuril flyover, passers-by took her to the Kurmitola General Hospital around 7am and later police also responded to a national emergency call, Iftekhairul Islam, adittional deputy commisioner (Cantonment Zone) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told The Business Standard.

A battered scooty was found beside her, he added.

Maisha was later transferred to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital as her condition deteriorated where the doctors pronounced her dead.

"The scooter was her favourite one and it even looked fresh even after three years," Nabil Ali Kamrul told The Business Standard.

"She was passionate about English and wanted to join any multinational company and even had a dream for higher studies abroad, that is why she chose to study English," he added.

Maisha's father was a teacher, who established a renowned school at the capital's Mouchak, and her mother is a housewife.

Police sources said they are analysing CCTV footage of surrounding areas for details of the accident.

"A covered van was seen descending down the flyover at a breakneck speed during the assumed time of the incident," police sources said, adding that the trucker had been identified.