Kolkata: A West Bengal-based human rights group is working on filing a
writ petition seeking justice for Felani Khatun, a Bangladeshi minor
girl shot dead by BSF personnel while she was trying to illegally
cross the international border.
Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM) would be filing the petition
before the Supreme Court seeking compensation for the victim as well
as punishment for Border Security Force (BSF) constable Amiya Ghosh,
accused of fatally shooting the girl.
“We are preparing to file a writ petition seeking justice in the
Felani shooting case. We have talked to her family as well as her
counsel and are likely to approach the Supreme Court soon,” Kirity Roy
of MASUM told IANS Friday.
Felani, 15, was shot Jan 7, 2011, while crossing over to Bangladesh at
the international border checkpoint at Chaudharihat in Cooch Behar
district.
Gory pictures of her body, hanging upside down on the barbed wire
fence, were splashed across the internet.
The body allegedly hung on the fence for hours before border troops of
both the countries brought it down.
Ghosh was charged with culpable homicide and the BSF started a General
Security Force Court (GSFC) trial against him which Sep 6 found him
“not guilty”.
But the higher authority of the force did not agree with the court’s
findings, and ordered a revision trial.
Meanwhile, Roy, who was scheduled to visit Bangladesh to meet Felani’s
family and collect relevant documents, could not get a visa to that
country after the Bangladesh High Commission returned his passport.
“It’s unfortunate. The Bangladesh Deputy High Commission at Kolkata
neither granted nor rejected my visa application, simply returned my
passport and, inexplicably, no reason was shown. I had applied for a
tourist visa,” said Roy, a frequent visitor to Bangladesh. – Mizo News
via Google News
