From TOI
TNN Dec 5, 2013,
NEW DELHI: A Bangladeshi lawyers' body has moved the Supreme Court seeking inquiry against a Border Security Force constable who allegedly shot dead a 15-year-old girl as she hung on the barbed border fence after her clothes got entangled while trying to cross over to Bangladesh.
The girl, Felani, was crossing into Bangladesh with her family on January 7, 2011 to get married there. While other members of the family jumped over the fence, she found her clothes inextricably caught in the barbed wire mesh.
Though the father said he was crossing into Bangladesh from India, in the petition he mentioned his residential address as Colony Tari, Union Ramkhana, district Koorigram, Bangladesh.
A bench of Justices H L Dattu and Madan B Lokur has sought responses of the Centre and the BSF on the petition, filed by Felani's father Noor Islam and Salma Ali, executive director of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association.
The narration in the petition, if true, is heart-rending, "The present petition is being filed by the father of a young girl of 15 years of age, unarmed, stuck in a barbed fence who was shot dead by BSF constable Amiya Ghosh at international border checkpoint at Chaudharihat in Dinhata, Cooch Behar, West Bengal."
"The child was at the India-Bangladesh border and called out to her father for help as she got stuck near a barbed wire. Her shouts attracted the attention of BSF and without warning, the constable shot her dead. She was left dangling upside down for hours on the barbed wire fence," the petitioners alleged through advocate Aparna Bhat.
"The body hung for hours till officials of the BSF and Bangladesh Border Guards reached the spot and cut the fence," the petitioners said, alleging that a BSF special court on September 6 acquitted the constable accused of murdering Felani.
Questioning the manner in which the trial was conducted, the petitioners said the Felani's father and uncle, who were eye-witnesses to the incident, were called upon to give their testimony in the special court and alleged that the court atmosphere was overbearing, being crowded with BSF personnel.
Though the BSF has ordered retrial of the constable after protests, the petitioners moved the apex court seeking appropriate compensation and to ensure that the retrial was conducted in a fair and transparent manner.
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