DHAKA: 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.

Source: IANS
BDST: 0858 HRS, SEP 21, 2013
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