The Dhaka Times Desk There are precedents in several countries of the world for years of imprisonment without guilt. However, this phenomenon is more evident in Bangladesh. Due to the negligence of the officials concerned, he has been in jail for years without guilt.
Recently, in the investigation of a case by the anti-corruption commission, another person was accused because the name of the main accused and the name of the father were similar! Later, when the person appealed to the High Court, the Anti-Corruption Commission admitted that they had made a mistake.
However, he could have been sentenced to 15 years in prison if the complaint of the person was not proved with the investigation of the Anti-Corruption Commission. However, even if the person did not end up in prison, the fate of many in such cases was not so good.
One such high-profile case in recent times was that of Jahalam, who was acquitted and served 3 years in jail due to a botched investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission and false testimony of a bank official.
A Human Rights Commission investigation later found that Jahalm was actually completely innocent. Jahalam was later released in February last year after being acquitted of all cases by the court.
A long period of life has been spent in prison without committing any crime – sounds like a movie story, but such incidents happen occasionally in our country. Unintentional or deliberate mistakes in investigation, false testimony or delay in the judicial process – the courts often give wrong verdicts due to various reasons, the consequences of which an innocent person has to suffer.
Some of the recent cases of unjustified imprisonment in Bangladesh are highlighted below:
Death after 13 years of imprisonment without crime
Obaidur Rahman, better known as Abed Ali, was one of the accused in the 2003 Satkhira murder case of two police officers. In 2006, the court sentenced Abed Ali and two others to death in that case.
Then in 2011, the High Court overturned the lower court verdict and acquitted Abed Ali. However, despite the high court's acquittal, the state appealed to the Supreme Court and the case continued for the next 4 years.
In April 2018, the Appellate Division of the Court upheld the verdict. However, despite the court's decision, unfortunate Abed Ali was not lucky enough to be released.
In October of that year, Abed Ali died shortly before the day the copy of the judgment to release Abed Ali reached the jail.
He was innocent, even though he got the recognition before his death, he could not spend a day with his family when he was free!
Babul Miar spent his youth, youth and youth in jail
Babul Mia of Brahmanbaria was only 18 years old when he was arrested in 1992 for bus robbery. Then in 2017, when he was acquitted and acquitted, he was 43 years old! That is, he spent a large part of his youth, youth and youth in the fisherman!
The interesting thing is that Babul Mia has served 25 years in prison despite being innocent in the case. However, even if he was found guilty in that case, his maximum sentence would be 10 years!
Babul Mia had to stay in prison for a long time due to the lengthy process of the judicial process. According to reports published in various media, most of the witnesses in the case did not come to testify during the 24 years from 1993 to 2017. In the published news, it emerged that the plaintiff and the investigating officer never appeared in the court.
According to the news published in the media, after coming out of the jail, Babul Mia left only one question in front of the journalists. Naturally, no one had the language to answer that question. His question was: "Who will give back 25 years of my youth?"
20 years in jail for false accusation of killing wife and daughter
In 2000, a court sentenced Sheikh Zahid of Bagerhat to death for murdering his wife and one-and-a-half-year-old daughter. That year, Sheikh Zahid appealed against the verdict, after which the High Court upheld the death sentence in 2004.
Defendant Zahid appealed again against the High Court verdict, which was disposed of in August 2020. Then the court declared Sheikh Zahid innocent.
Being a death-sentenced accused, Sheikh Zahid had to spend the entire period of imprisonment in the 'condemned cell' designated for the accused. When the man, who started his sentence at the age of 30, was released from Khulna jail after being proved innocent, he was 50 years old!
5 years in prison for matching the name of the accused's father
Recently, a man named Armaan was released from Kashimpur Jail, who was in jail since 2016. In a case filed in 2005 under the Explosives Act, the name of the father of an accused is the same as the father of Arman, a resident of Mirpur. In 2012, the court sentenced a defendant to 10 years imprisonment in that case. The accused was absconding at that time.
According to the news published in the media, the police arrested Arman from Mirpur in 2016 and sent him to jail just because his father's name is the same.
Later, Arman's family filed a writ in the court and after the final hearing, the court acquitted Arman.
In this case, the court decided to give financial compensation to Arman and conduct a new investigation to determine the persons responsible for Arman's arrest.
Jahalm's imprisonment is the subject of much discussion
When Jahalam was arrested in February 2016, he was working at a jute mill in Narsingdi. Then, two days before the completion of 3 years, Jahalam returned home after being released by the order of the High Court. An investigation by the Human Rights Commission found that he was in jail despite his innocence.
A person named Abu Salek was accused of embezzling Tk 18 crore from a bank. An officer of that bank identified Jahalm as Abu Salek and the court found Jahalm guilty after testifying.
The Anti-Corruption Commission formed an investigation committee to determine whose fault the innocent Jahalum had to serve in prison. But the results of that investigation have not seen the light of day!
Source: BBC Bangla.
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