Rajoni Khatun, who tragically lost her life in the tragic aircraft crash at Milestone School and College in Dhaka’s Uttara, was laid to rest on Tuesday morning in her ancestral village of Sadipur in Daulatpur upazila, Kushtia.
The funeral prayer of the mother took place at 9:am followed by her burial at the family graveyard at 10:am.
Rajani was mother of Jumjum, a 5th grader of Milestone.
As her body arrived at the village in the early hours, a pall of grief blanketed the community. Relatives, neighbours, and well-wishers gathered in large numbers to pay their final respects. Her children, overwhelmed with grief, wept inconsolably.
Rajoni (38), wife of garment businessman Zohurul Islam, had been living in Dhaka with her husband and three children for nearly two decades.
On the day of the tragedy, Rajoni had gone to the school, as she did every day, to pick up her daughter Jumjum. When aircraft crashed into the school building and fire broke out, she rushed inside fearing her daughter was trapped. Unaware that Jumjum had already escaped, Rajoni was struck by debris from the plane and later succumbed to her injuries.
Her husband, who rushed back from Chattogram after hearing the news, identified her body at the military hospital in Dhaka.
“There were no burn marks, but a severe injury to the back of her head,” he said in a choked voice.
Rajani’s younger brother, Ashikul Islam, said, “She died trying to save her daughter. That was the kind of mother she was.”
Rajoni’s body was brought back to Kushtia after being released from the hospital late Monday night. The funeral was held amidst the ongoing state mourning, as the nation comes to terms with the tragedy.
Daulatpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer Abdul Hai Siddiqui, who attended the funeral, said,
“This is not just a family’s loss---it is a national loss. A mother’s death leaves a void that can never truly be filled.”
Twelve-year-old Jumjum, still in shock, whispered, “Ma (mother) used to come with me every day. She won’t come again.”
The final farewell was soaked in sorrow---marking not just the end of a life, but the heartbreak of a mother’s last act of love.
Aman/