A special court in India posted for August 13 the trial of the death of Felani Khatun, a 15-year-old girl who was shot dead by India’s Border Security Force when she was crossing the border into Bangladesh through the Phulbari frontiers in Dinajpur on January 7, 2011.
The director general of the Border Guard Bangladesh, Aziz Ahmed, confirmed it. He, however, said that he was not ‘clear’ whether a murder charge was being brought against the accused.
The deposition of Felani’s father Nur Islam and her uncle Hanif Ali will be taken in August 19–22.
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 Indian guards shot Felani dead when she was crossing the border into Bangladesh over barbed-wire fences. She was one of 214 Bangladeshis killed in the border between January 2009 and June 2013 after the Awami League-led government had assumed office.
The killing shocked people both in Bangladesh and India and drew widespread condemnation.
The proceedings of the case have already begun in the Indian court, another senior official said. The BSF, earlier, recorded statements of three Bangladeshi witnesses, including Felani’s father, during a preliminary investigation of her death. After the investigation, the Indian guards submitted the charge sheet against their constable Amiya Ghosh, who shot Felani.
According to the Indian law, Amiya Ghosh is being tried by the Indian General Security Force Court which gave an order on October 18, 2012 to start the trial in the Felani murder case. The special BSF court is equivalent to an Indian court martial.
-With New Age input
