The family of teenage girl Felani Khatun – killed four years ago in BSF firing at the border – has said there is no point in applying to the Indian force as it has already acquitted the alleged killer twice.
“We have seen how they [Border Security Force] have proceeded with the two trials before. We got nothing. The Indian Supreme Court has accepted our appeal [for reinvestigation]. We would therefore like to pursue the appeal instead of filing an application with them [BSF],” said Felani’s father Nurul Islam.
During a director general-level meeting between BSF and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) earlier this month, the Indian force’s chief DK Pathak advised Felani’s family to file an application with them if they are aggrieved with the killer’s acquittal.
On July 3 this year, a second makeshift BSF court acquitted its constable Amiya Ghosh, the accused killer. He was acquitted once before in September 2013 by another BSF court that delivered the verdict after internal investigation and trial.
Nurul Islam had testified as witness during both the trials, but both courts said the evidence against the self-confessed killer was “inconclusive and insufficient.”
BSF arranged the second trial following a huge outcry by media and rights groups against the acquittal in the maiden border killing lawsuit. Border killings have made it to virtually every Indo-Bangla bilateral negotiations in recent years.
However, on Friday August 14, the matter took a new turn after the Indian Supreme Court accepted a plea for independent reinvestigation into the case; the plea was filed jointly by Nurul Islam and Indian rights group Manabadhikar Surakkha Mancha (MASUM).
The Indian SC issued a notice to the federal and West Bengal governments, the BSF and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), seeking their opinion on the demands placed in the plea.
Saying that Felani’s family had been denied justice, the plea sought reinvestigation by CBI or any other neutral probe agency. Nurul and MASUM also sought compensation for the family.
Fourteen-year-old Felani Khatun was killed on January 7, 2011 at the Anantapur border when she and her father were coming to Bangladesh from Asam of India.
The Dhaka Tribune has obtained a copy of a letter that Nurul has recently sent to the BGB.
He wrote: “After the latest verdict on July 2 this year, I applied to the Indian ambassador in Dhaka, requesting for all the documents of the murder case, but they did not give me anything. In such a situation, I filed a writ with the Indian Supreme Court...with help from human rights organisations and the public prosecutor appointed by the Bangladesh government.
“As the Supreme Court bench, led by its chief justice, accepted it for hearing and asked the federal home secretary, West Bengal chief secretary, director general of BSF and the chief of CBI to give answers about the murder case, I do not want to file any complaints with the BSF. Or else, BSF might take advantage of the time needed for the Supreme Court to hear on the writ and hold another trial quickly and acquit the accused again,” Nurul told the BGB in the letter.
When contacted, BGB 45 Battalion Commanding Officer Jakir Hossain, corresponding the issue with Felani’s family, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We have discussed the BSF chief’s statement [with Felani’s father]. Her father informed us in a formal letter that they do not want to file any complaints with BSF as they had already filed a writ with the [Indian] Supreme Court.
“We have forwarded the letter to our high command and following proper processes, an appropriate answer will be given to the BSF,” Jakir said.
<b> From Nurul’s memory <b>
In a recent one-to-one interview with the Dhaka Tribune, Felani’s father Nurul said: “I had no intention of crossing the border illegally. My target was to cross legally by contacting custom officials. But the Indian brokers led us astray.
Before January 2011, Nurul had been working in India’s Asam for a decade and Felani used to live with him. After Fenali’s wedding was fixed with a Bangladeshi man, the father and the daughter decided to come back to Bangladesh.
“As soon as we reached the Indian side of the border, some Indian brokers surrounded us. They forcefully took our bags and the Rs3,000 we had with us. They said they would make arrangements for crossing the border.”
Asked if he remembers the names of the brokers, Nurul said: “First we met Mosharraf. He kept us in his house until midnight of January 6. Then another broker named Ganzu took us to his house. We waited there for about half and hour and then another broker named Bazrat took us to his house.
“Around 1:30am, he told us to go to sleep while he made arrangements for our border crossing. After the early morning Fazr prayers, another broker, whose name I did not know, told us that everything was ready. They had placed a ladder over the barbed wire fence and we were told to run and climb over the border using the ladder.
“I did not want to cross the border that way because it was already daytime. I wanted to do it the legal way. But they did not listen. Instead, two of them grabbed mine and Felani’s hands and pulled us towards the border. Then they forced us to climb the ladder.
“We were on top of the border fence when BSF men, without any notice, opened fire on us. I fell down inside the Bangladesh border. But Felani got stuck and was soon hit by a bullet.
Breaking into tears, Nurul said: “I was surprised when BSF men, without talking to the brokers, who were present right beside the border, or alerting us just opened fire on us.
“They just let my daughter’s body hang there for more than six hours. I am thankful to the local BGB officials because of whose protests I at least got my daughter’s body back.”
The Dhaka Tribune correspondents have recently visited Felani’s home in Kolnitari village in Nageshwari upazila, some 25km away from the Kurigram district headquarters.
There they saw Felani’s grave right beside their homestead – a one-room tin-roofed house.
Felani’s mother Jahanara Begum said: “We have nothing to say but [can] only [demand] a fair trial of my daughter’s killing...I do not know how anyone can kill a child like Felani.”