by S Dilip Roy in The Daily Star, Jan 7, 2023
It has been 12 years since Felani, a Bangladeshi teenager, was shot dead by a member of India’s Border Security Force and left hanging from the barbed fence of the border along Kurigram, but her family is still waiting for justice.
Felani’s murder case is pending with the Supreme Court of India. It has not yet been included in the judicial list.
On the dawn of January 7, 2011, Felani Khatun along with her father was coming back to Bangladesh through Anantapur border in Phulbari upazila of Kurigram when BSF member Amiya Ghosh fired upon them.
Her father, Nurul Islam, had managed to cross the fence but Felani was killed on the spot and her body was left hanging on the barbed fence for four and a half hours.
Public Prosecutor of Kurigram Judge Court and human rights activist SM Abraham Lincoln said Manabadhikar Surakhkha Manncha, a human rights platform of India, on July 13, 2015, filed a writ petition with the country’s Supreme Court seeking justice and compensation for Felani’s killing.
After the hearing on October 25, 2017, the date was repeatedly postponed in the Supreme Court of India. The trial of Felani’s murder has not started yet. The case has not yet been included in the agenda of the court’s judgment.
“We are praying for justice against the BSF member Amiya Ghosh; not against any state. The Indian government is also sincere in its demand that BSF member Amiya Ghosh, who was involved in Felani’s murder at the border, be brought to justice,” he said.
“If Amiya Ghosh was tried, no one would have dared kill people so brutally at the border.”
Family members, relatives and villagers are still mourning Felani at her village at Dakshin Ramkhana Colonetari village of Kurigram.
According to Felani’s family, Nur Islam along with his family were then living in India’s Assam, where he ran a small tea stall.
Felani and Nur Islam were returning to Bangladesh after the family had decided to arrange her marriage, they said. That is when, 12 years ago, Felani was shot dead.
After hanging from the fence for four and a half hours, her body was taken away by BSF. The BSF handed over the body to the Border Guard Bangladesh 30 hours after the incident.The ghastly photo of Felani’s body hanging from the barbwire upside down sparked protest and condemnation throughout the country.
Felani’s father Nur Islam told The Daily Star, “Until we get justice for my daughter, we will not rest.”
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/decade-later-justice-still-eludes-felanis-family-3214281
