An eight-year-old girl who was found with her throat slit in the remote hilly area of Sitakunda has died. She passed away late Monday night around 3:30 a.m. while undergoing treatment at Chattogram Medical College Hospital.

The child’s uncle confirmed the news to Prothom Alo on Tuesday morning, saying that despite all efforts, they were unable to save her. According to him, an unidentified assailant had allegedly raped his niece before slitting her throat. In excruciating pain, the girl managed to walk down the hillside and reached an excavator driver working on road repairs, pleading for help.

The uncle added that the girl’s parents have been repeatedly fainting after learning of her death. Her body is currently at the hospital morgue, and after legal procedures and a post-mortem, it will be returned home for burial.

The child had been rescued the previous Sunday morning from a hillside about 500 meters above the Sahasradhara Waterfall, located inside the Sitakunda Botanical Garden and Eco Park. Workers engaged in road repair discovered her and initially took her to the Sitakunda Upazila Health Complex before transferring her to Chattogram Medical College Hospital.

That night, she underwent surgery on her neck at the hospital. On Monday, she was admitted to the One-Stop Crisis Cell (OSCC) for further care.

Sitakunda police officer-in-charge Md. Mohinul Islam said that the girl’s mother filed a case on Sunday against un