The prosecution of Syed Mohammed Qaisar’s war crimes trial dedicated the verdict to the war children and the biranganas – the women raped during the Liberation War.
Qaisar was sentenced to death yesterday for the crimes he had committed against humanity in 1971. The three-member second International Crimes Tribunal, led by Justice Obaidul Hassan, found him guilty in 14 out of the 16 charges.
The prosecution came up with the opinion after the tribunal cited some significant observations about war children and the biranganas in the judgement.
Mentioning that the rape victims are the symbol of trauma, the tribunal said the government may initiate a compensation scheme for them. “The rape victims should be honoured as freedom fighters...The nation salutes the sacrifice of the rape victims.”
“We are pleased with the verdict,” prosecutor Rana Dasgupta told reporters after the verdict.
“We sought compensation for the victims and the war children. The tribunal has saluted them. It [tribunal] said it is the duty of the nation to give them the respect.
“As law does not mention anything about compensation, the tribunal suggested that the government should identify the victims and launch a compensation scheme. ICT asked the Liberation War Affairs and the Social Welfare Ministries and the NGOs to initiate this,” the prosecutor said.
Terming the verdict a great achievement, prosecutor Tureen Afroz said: “The tribunal said the wound of a rape is deeper than a bullet wound. This is the first time that the tribunal has given an observation on the crimes. We dedicate the verdict to the biranganas who underwent torture for the sake of liberation and also to the war children.”
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman first used the word birangana to describe the women raped in 1971. In October this year, the government recognised them as freedom fighters.
