Felani murder trial begins in secret Hearing from today

The Dhaka Times Desk. The murder trial of Bangladeshi girl Felani started yesterday in Cooch Behar, India. However, the media reported that strict confidentiality is being maintained. The hearing will begin today.

The trial began yesterday morning at the headquarters of the Indian Border Guard Force (BSF) 181 Battalion at Sonari in Cooch Behar. The media reported that the trial started yesterday. The hearing will start today from Wednesday. No journalists were allowed to watch the proceedings at the BSF headquarters.

According to the news of BBC Bengal, this judicial system called General Security Forces Court or GSFC is equivalent to the court martial of the army. Five judges will conduct the trial. Even if the BSF is prosecuted under its own laws, punishments can be as high as or higher than those provided for in the country's penal code. Felani was shot dead by constable Amiya Ghosh while crossing the barbed wire fence near Chowdhuryhat border post in West Bengal's Cooch Behar district.

According to the BSF, Amiya Ghosh fired from his 5.56 mm Insus rifle. A senior BSF officer also told BBC Bangla that at the beginning of the trial, the judges asked the accused Amiya Ghosh whether he was admitting guilt, which in legal terms is called 'guilty plea' or not. But Amiya Ghosh did not plead guilty. He told the court in legal language, 'Not guilty'. Amiya Ghosh, the BSF constable accused in Felani's murder, has been under house arrest since the incident. That is, he can move around within the area of his unit's 181 battalion. Amiya Ghosh has been charged under Section 304 (involuntary manslaughter) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 146 of the BSF Act.

BSF sources said that the statement of the accused persons will be heard first. The testimony of Felani's father Nurul Islam and uncle Abdul Hanif will be taken on August 19. The court invited them to testify. Along with those two witnesses, the government consul of Kurigram, Bangladesh and an official of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) also went to Cooch Behar.

Note that on January 7, 2011, Felani was killed by BSF firing at the Kurigram border in Bangladesh. Felani used to work as a housekeeper in a house in Bombay, and it is said that on that day she climbed the barbed wire fence and was coming to her home in Bangladesh. Felani's body was hanging on the barbed wire for 6 hours, which is why Felani's body hanging on the barbed wire caused an uproar all over the world. Human rights organizations strongly protested the brutal killings at the border. In view of this, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) held a flag meeting with BSF and protested and demanded justice to the incident. The BSF headquarters set up a General Security Force Court to try the incident. References: Dainik Prothom Alo/online news medium.