Mother reunited with baby who survived being shot in her womb

Najma Begum was 34 weeks pregnant when she was shot during a clash. Photo: Zakir Hossain Chowdhury/NurPho

A Bangladesh mother has had an emotional reunion with her newborn baby who survived being shot while in her womb.

Najma Begum was 34 weeks pregnant when she was shot during a clash between ruling Awami League factions at Doarparha in Magura, southwestern Bangladesh, on July 23.

BDNews24.com - Bangladesh's online newspaper - reported that the clash between her brother-in-law, Magura Juba League activist Kamrul Bhuiyan's supporters and followers of former Juba League activists Mohammad Ali and 'Ajibor' also left Kamrul's uncle Abdul Momin dead and a neighbour injured.

Doctors at Magura Hospital performed surgeries on Ms Begum to save her child, Surayia, that night after a bullet passed through the right side of her body, managing to avoid damaging any vital organs.

Najma Begum is reunited with her baby. Photo: Zakir Hossain Chowdhury/NurPho

Yesterday the pair were reunited at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital [DMCH], leaving not only Ms Begum tearful but also the doctors that performed the life-saving surgery, the paper reported.

Paediatric department chief Abid Hossain Molla told reporters they let Surayia stay with her mother in a cabin at the hospital since she had recovered.

Surayia had been in the Intensive Care Unit for 24 days.

In tears while taking the baby in her lap, Ms Begum sought blessings from everyone.

DMCH Director Mizanur Rahman and paediatric surgery department chief Ashraful Haque Kajal were also present.

BDNews24.com also reported that Sen Suman, 35, the vice-president of Bangladesh Chhatra League's Magura unit, was yesterday taken into custody in regards to the shooting.

Suman is the fourth accused in the case. But his family claims he was in Dhaka when the clash broke out.

Fourteen people have so far been arrested in regards to the shooting.

Magura Detective Branch OC Imamul Haque said they nabbed Nazrul while searching a Khulna-bound bus on Dhaka-Magura Highway.

He was fleeting to Khulna fearing arrest, said Haque, the case's investigation officer.