A murder accused was chased, and stabbed to death by his own cousin, a co-accused, inside a judge’s chamber in a Comilla courtroom – while the trial of the case was in progress.
The shocking incident, unprecedented in Bangladesh, has raised concerns as to how inefficient the security system is, in the country’s courtrooms.
Both the judge of the court, and the legal counsel present during the trial, blamed the police personnel present in the courtroom for failing to prevent the incident, saying their negligence in duty resulted in the gruesome attack.
The incident occurred in front of Judge Begum Fatema Ferdous of Comilla Additional District and Sessions Judge’s Court 3, around 11am yesterday.
The murdered accused is Faruk, from Kandi village in the district’s Manoharganj upazila.
The assailant is Hasan, from Bhojpara village in Laksam upazila.
Confirming the matter to Dhaka Tribune, Comilla Superintendent of Police (SP) Syed Nurul Islam said Hasan had already been detained.
The district police formed a three-member committee yesterday to investigate the incident, with Additional SP (Comilla north) Md Sakhawat Hossain as the head.
Describing what happened, Additional Public Prosecutor Nurul Islam said: “Both Faruk and Hasan were accused in the murder of Haji Abdul Karim, which occurred in 2013 in Kandi village. The two accused, who had been out on bail, were supposed to make an appearance before the court on Monday for a hearing.
“As accused Faruk entered the courtroom for the hearing, Hasan suddenly started chasing him with a knife, and attacked him. Faruk ran into the judge’s chamber to save his life, but Hasan chased him to the chamber, and stabbed him indiscriminately.”
The entire incident took place in front of the judge, he said, adding that there were two or three police officials present inside the courtroom, who did nothing to stop Hasan.
Severely wounded, Faruk was taken to Comilla Medical College and Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Recalling the incident, Judge Fatema Ferdous said: “An accused was murdered in the courtroom, in front of me. This could have happened to me or anyone else. We are extremely concerned about our safety right now.”
When asked about security in the courtroom, Comilla SP Nurul Islam said: “A specific number of police officials are stationed in the courtrooms in all 17 upazilas of the district, to maintain security. They are mainly responsible for escorting the accused to and from the courtroom. A huge number of people come to the courts. The current manpower of the district police is inadequate to provide security to so many people.”
The SP further said there was a dispute between the court lawyers, and the police.
“We will sit with the district judge to resolve the issues. We will also discuss how the courtroom security can be improved.”
