Give them Rs 5 lakh
The National Human Rights Commission of India has asked the Indian government to pay Rs 5 lakh in compensation to the family of Felani Khatun, who was shot dead by a border guard in January 2011.
The decision came around two months after a special court of Indian Border Security Force (BSF) upheld its previous verdict that acquitted one of its troopers for the much-talked-about killing.
The National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh and a Bangladeshi lawyer of the killing case yesterday confirmed the decision of the Indian rights watchdog.
Felani's father Nur Islam said he wanted justice and would take the money in compensation if it did not cost him the justice.
“I want justice for the killing of my daughter… I will not mind receiving compensation, but not in exchange for justice,” he told The Daily Star over phone yesterday.
“The BSF man shot dead my daughter in front of me. I have been waiting for justice for the killing of my daughter for last four and a half years,” he added.
A writ petition seeking retrial of the murder is now pending before the Indian Supreme Court.
On January 7, 2011, on her way home from New Delhi with her father, 15-year-old Felani was shot while crossing the border illegally as her clothes got stuck in the barbed-wire fence at Aanatapur border point in Phulbari upazila, Kurigram.
The photo of her body hanging from the top of the fence triggered a fresh global outcry and renewed the call for an end to border killings.
SM Abraham Lincoln, a Kurigram public prosecutor and lawyer of Felani murder case in Bangladesh, said the Indian NHRC board members made the call unanimously in a suo moto move and directed the Indian central government to pay the compensation through the Indian High Commission in Bangladesh.
The lawyer said the truth had been established through the move that Felani was a victim of BSF shooting.
“Now we hope accused BSF man Amiya Ghosh will be given the due punishment as the compensation is only a token,” he added.
Prof Mizanur Rahman, chairman of Bangladesh NHRC, welcomed the decision and termed it a “positive instance” for the cross-border cooperation to protect human rights.
He told The Daily Star that they had requested their Indian counterpart to play their due role so that Felani's family members got justice.
The Indian government was bound to pay the money, he said, adding that they had earlier implemented their NHRC's recommendations properly.
Amid pressure from rights organisations, India opened investigations and the trial started at a BSF court in August 2013. Felani's father Nurul Islam and relatives testified in the proceedings.
On September 6, 2013, the court cleared Amiya of the murder charge, drawing further anger from the victim's family and rights activists of both sides.
Even the BSF chief “did not agree" with the findings of the court. A retrial was ordered after Bangladesh expressed displeasure and took the matter to the Indian border force top-brass in New Delhi. Felani's father had also appealed to the Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh for revision trial in the case.
However, the retrial began only to end with the accused being acquitted again. The same court revised the trial upholding its previous verdict in July this year.
The Indian human rights body Amnesty India yesterday filed a writ petition with the country's Supreme Court, saying human rights were violated in Felani murder and confusion was created surrounding the trial process.
The court has fixed October 6 to hear the petition, Abraham Lincoln told The Daily Star.
Comments