Indian govt asked to pay Rs 5 lakh to Felani’s family

National Human Rights Commission of India today asked the Indian government to pay Rs 5 lakh in compensation to the family of Felani Khatun, who was shot dead by the Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) in January 2011.

The decision came over a month after a special court of BSF upheld its previous verdict that acquitted one of its troopers for the killing.

“Indian National Human Rights Commission board members made the call unanimously in a suo moto move (on its own)” Abraham Lincoln, public prosecutor and lawyer of Bangladesh side of the killing case, told The Daily Star.

The lawyer said that a truth has been established through the move that Felani was a victim of BFS firing.  “Therefore, from the perspective compensating a victim, Felani’s family has to be compensated,” he added.

Fifteen-year-old Felani was shot dead while she, along with her father, was returning home from India through Anantapur border in Phulbari upazila of northern district of Kurigram on January 7, 2011. Felani’s dead body was found hung from barbwire along the border for hours.

After the media published the heart wrenching photo, protests erupted in Bangladesh.

A special court of the BSF began trial over this incident on August 13, 2013. The court acquitted the lone accused trooper, Amiya Ghosh, of the murder charge on September 6, 2013.

The same the court revised the trial upholding its previous verdict after Felani's father appealed to Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh for revision trial in the case.

Later, a writ petition was filed with the Indian Supreme Court seeking retrial of the murder.

The court has fixed October 5 to hear the petition, Abraham Lincoln further told The Daily Star.