Ekushey Padak-winning sculptor Shamim Sikder passed away on Tuesday while undergoing treatment at the United Hospital in Bangladesh capital Dhaka. She was 70.

Shamim Sikder had long been suffering from various health complications.
‘She was admitted to the hospital on February 19 and shifted to the CCU on March 9. She passed away at 4:45 pm,’ said an official of the hospital.

She returned to Bangladesh six months ago from the UK and became unwell.

She was admitted to National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh and later shifted to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University. She was shifted to United Hospital in February.

Shamim Sikder was born on October 22 in 1952.  She built a sculpture at Dhaka Central Jail in 1974 to commemorate the country’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and later sculpted Shoparjito Shadhinota in 1988, sculpture of Swami Vivekananda at Jagannath Hall in 1994, Shadhinota Sangram at Dhaka University in 2000 and others.

She was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2000 by the government of Bangladesh.