Nur Islam, father of teenager Felani Khatun who was killed on January 7, 2011, demands the death penalty for the accused soldier of Indian Border Security Force.
“Earlier we had many government and private organisations beside us. But now we are all alone,” he said while offering prayers at his house in the district.
“Since the Indian government has decided to review the judgement that acquitted soldier Amiya Ghosh, we hope to get justice from them,” he said.
“Now, we have only one demand: hang the BSF soldier who killed my daughter.”
Fifteen-year-old Felani was shot dead by the BSF while she was returning home in Bangladesh. As she tried to climb over the barbed-wire fencing along Anantapur border in Kurigram on January 7, 2011, her clothes got entangled in the wire and the BSF fired at her, hearing her screams.
Her body was left dangling on the barbed wire for nearly five hours and she was reportedly alive for at least four hours after being shot. The photograph of Felani’s bullet-ridden body hanging from the barbed wire was published in the local and international media, following which there was an outpouring of demands for justice.
After a trial, the self-confessed killer was acquitted as there was “inconclusive and insufficient” evidence against him, the court said in its order on September 6.
In the face of massive criticism by people and rights groups in Bangladesh and India, the BSF high-ups later decided to hold a revision trial as the authorities had not agreed with the findings of the court.
However, there has been no development on the trial issue since then.