Staff Correspondent:

The eight-year-old girl, who is now battling for her life in the Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Dhaka opened her eyes for a while for the first time on Monday morning.

Her physical condition has, however, improved very slightly and doctors hope for further improvement within the next couple of days.

Chief Adviser’s Deputy Press Secretary Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad Majumder informed about the little girl’s health condition, quoting doctors.

Briefing reporters at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital, Azad said the interim government is regularly monitoring the health condition of the girl from Magura.

Chief Adviser’s Special Assistant Lieutenant General (retd.) Abdul Hafiz is in regular contact with doctors at the CMH, said the Deputy Press Secretary.

Hafiz also spoke to the doctors and they told him that the girl’s physical condition has improved slightly. However, oxygen supply to her brain has been disrupted due to respiratory problems. The girl had water in her brain and it has not been possible to remove it yet.

But the air that was trapped in her chest has been removed and doctors are hopeful that her health condition will improve somewhat in a day or two, Azad said.

Health Adviser Nurjahan Begum and Fisheries and Livestock Adviser Farida Akhter visited the CMH on Monday to look into the progress of the child’s health. They talked to doctors and gave necessary directives, Azad said.

She was initially admitted to Magura General Hospital and later transferred to Faridpur Medical College Hospital as her condition deteriorated. On Thursday, she was moved to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) before being shifted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Dhaka.

A Magura court on Monday midnight placed the main accused in a case over the rape of the girl on a seven-day remand and three others on a five-day remand each.

Those remanded are prime accused Hitu Sheikh, 50, father-in-law of the victim’s elder sister, his wife Zayeda Khatun, and their two sons- Sajib Sheikh and Ratul Sheikh, of Nijnanduali village in Magura’s Sadar upazila.