A one-man special court of the Indian security force on Tuesday began the trial of the killing of Bangladeshi girl Felani Khatun in Koch Bihar BSF headquarters about two years and eight months after the incident took place on India-Bangladesh border.
The judge, SK Srivastava, also the inspector general of the Border Security Force’s Guwahati frontier, began the trial at the BSF 181 battalion headquarters in the area amid restriction.
The trial began after the BSF conducted an investigation into the killing.
After the investigation, charge sheet was submitted against the BSF constable Amiya Ghosh who had allegedly shot Felani.
A senior Border Guard
Bangladesh official after holding a meeting with BSF officials on Tuesday in Jessore border told New Age that the trial at the Indian General Security Force Court would record the deposition of Felani’s father Nurul Islam and her uncle Hanif Ali as witnesses on August 19.
‘The verdict is expected to be delivered before August 31,’ the BGB officer said.
A BGB team led by the 45 BG Battalion commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Ziaul Haque Khaled and public prosecutor SM Abraham Lincoln will accompany them during the visit scheduled to start on August 18.
Felani Khatun, a 15-year-old girl was shot dead by the BSF when she was crossing the border into Bangladesh over barbed-wire fences through the Phulbari frontiers in Dinajpur on January 7, 2011.
Felani’s parents demand that the killers get capital punishment.
Her father Nurul Islam said, ‘I want death penalty be awarded to the killers of my daughter. I planned to marry her off, but my dream was shattered.’
Felani’s mother Jahanara Begum told New Age that she wanted exemplary punishment handed down to the killers.
She was one of 214 Bangladeshis killed on the borders between January 2009 and June 2013 after the Awami League-led government had assumed office.
Home minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir on Tuesday termed the start of the trial of the much-talked-about Felani murder case as a matter of relief and said Bangladesh had been working on the issue intensively.
The minister said the trial was the outcome of continued efforts by Bangladesh to ensure justice to Felani’s family.
The killing shocked people both in Bangladesh and India and drew widespread condemnation.
The BGB officials, however, were not ‘clear’ whether a murder charge was being brought against the accused.
Earlier, they were scheduled to give their deposition in the case to the General Security Force Court in India on July 15 and July 20. The special BSF court is equivalent of an Indian court martial.
-With New Age input
