[ad_1]
A devastated father whose son died after he accidentally left him in a car for more than six hours on one of Sydney‘s hottest days has laid the three-year-old to rest in an emotional funeral.Â
Arikh Hasan’s tiny coffin was carried inside Lakemba Mosque just after lunchtime on Friday ahead of the boy’s burial in a traditional Bangladeshi ceremony.
Newaz Hasan, who tragically left Arikh in his car in 35 degree heat on February 2, was one of six male pallbearers carrying the little boy’s small green coffin on a short walk up the steps of the mosque.Â
His devastated wife Marzia followed a few steps behind, wearing a dark red hijab, with two women closing ranks around her and blocking her from the watching crowd.Â
A small boy neatly dressed in a navy Islamic tunic and wearing a white cap, who is believed to be Arikh’s older brother, was also present and stood guard over the coffin.Â
Arikh Hasan’s tiny coffin was carried inside Lakemba Mosque just after lunchtime on Friday
His mother Marzia followed the coffin, wearing a dark red hijab, with two women closing ranks around her and blocking her from the watching crowd
Arikh Hasan, 3 (bottom child) with his older brother who was driven by their father to primary school, with Arikh tragically being left in the care for up to five hours
Newaz Hasan (front right), who tragically left Arikh in his car in 35 degree heat on February 2, was one of six male pallbearers carrying the little boy’s small green coffin
A small boy neatly dressed in a navy Islamic tunic and wearing a white cap, who is believed to be Arikh’s older brother, stood guard as his coffin was loaded into a hearse
A party of about 100 mostly Bangladeshi Australian mourners attended prayers at the mosque, before going onto Arikh’s burial on Friday afternoon.
According to Bengali Islamic tradition, the boy’s remains were wrapped in a shroud with his face still visible for loved ones to make their final farewell.
After a service, Arikh’s coffin was carried from the mosque at around 2.10pm and loaded into the hearse.
His brother stood sentry at the back of the hearse as the metre-long coffin was pushed into the vehicle.
Arikh’s father then climbed into the passenger seat of the funeral car and at 2.20pm the car pulled out from the crowded Lakemba street to head to the burial site.
Mr Hasan spoke earlier in the week about his son’s death on February 2, a 35 degree day in western Sydney, after he had forgotten to drop him off at childcare.
Moments earlier Mr Hasan had driven Arikh’s older brother to primary school and spent the remainder of the 35C day working from home in Glenfield, western Sydney.
Mr Hasan only realised his horrific mistake when he returned to his Toyota Corolla to pick up his older child from school.
Images from the harrowing scene show the distraught dad sitting on the ground with his hands in his head, crying inconsolably.
A party of about 100 mostly Bangladeshi Australian mourners attended prayers at the mosque, before going onto Arikh’s burial on Friday afternoon
Hundreds of mourners attended the service on Friday, before the boy’s coffin was taken for burial
After a service, Arikh’s coffin was carried from the mosque at around 2.10pm and loaded into the hearse
A trail of mourners followed the tiny green coffin as it was taken to a mosque for prayers
Newaz Hasan (right) has laid his son Hasan, 3, to rest just over a week after the toddler died after being left in the family’s car in 35 degree heat for more than six hours after Newaz forgot to drop him at childcare
Mr Hasan was seen breaking down at the scene as the child was declared dead at Glenfield, in Sydney’s west on February 2
‘I would normally talk to my son on the way to daycare, you know, we would chat… but because he was asleep this day, the car was silent,’ Mr Hasan told The Daily Telegraph.
‘I think that silence just made me forget he was there.’
Fully occupied by his job as a senior banking analyst at his home office, the day had passed seemingly as normal, but outside in the car, young Arikh was slowing succumbing to the scorching heat.
Trapped by the car seat restraint and the vehicle fitted with child safety locks, the toddler would have been unable to get out or open the car doors.
About 3pm, Mr Hasan unknowingly got back behind the wheel with Arikh still inside and set off to Glenfield Public School to pick up his elder son.
It wasn’t until he returned to the car after picking up the primary school boy that he saw Arikh still strapped into the back car seat.
NSW Police have not charged Mr Hasan but investigations into the tragedy are ongoing (pictured: Mr Hasan’s car pictured at the scene)
Mujammel Hossain (pictured in the pink shirt) told Daily Mail Australia he saw Mr Hasan screaming and said he could tell immediately after Arikh was pulled from the car that he had already died as he was extremely hot with ‘no pulse’
Bottle shop employee Sandeep Shresdha was working at the time the boy was carried into his store and recalled there were a ‘lot of people crying’Â
‘Even talking about it now, I still don’t really know how it happened… There was nothing on my mind, I wasn’t distracted, nothing… I just forgot,’ Mr Hasan said.
‘I just want to say to other parents please always be 120 per cent sure where your kids are.’
With the help of bystanders, Mr Hasan got the three-year-old out of the car and rushed him inside a nearby bottle shop where paramedics tried desperately to revive him.
Paramedics told Mr Hasan his son was ‘not going to be ok’.Â
In the aftermath of the distressing discovery Mr Hasan punched the window of his car, injuring his hand.
Traumatised by the ordeal, he and wife Marzia and their oldest boy had not returned home since the tragedy, staying with relatives in Sydney’s south-west.
Experts say Mr Hasan may have suffered from ‘forgotten baby syndrome’ – when a parent or carer experiences short-term memory loss caused by a distraction or change of routine.Â
[ad_2]
Source link
