A grieving mother, testifying as the fifth witness at International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1), recounted the fatal shooting of her 14-year-old son, Md Imon, during the July mass uprising and the terrifying threats she faced while mourning his death.
Providing deposition on Wednesday, in a case filed against Awami League Presidium member Kamrul Islam and Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon over the deaths of 23 people, the witness – whose identity withheld for security reasons – demanded justice for her son’s murder.
Breaking down in tears during her testimony, she held Sheikh Hasina, Obaidul Quader, Rashed Khan Menon, and Kamrul Islam responsible for Imon’s death, stating that her son would still be alive had a curfew not been imposed on 19 July.
Defying curfew to join movement
Imon, a 14-year-old teenager who pulled a rickshaw at a young age to support his family, actively participated in the July 2024 mass movement.
According to his mother, Imon left home around 7am on 19 July to join the protests, and she last saw him coming towards home at Tetultola around 7pm that evening.
On the same day, her daughter’s brother-in-law was also shot dead. Although his mother forbade him from joining the demonstrations, Imon showed her a video of martyr Yamin and argued, “Look how boys my age are being killed. Why shouldn’t I go to the movement?”
A nationwide curfew was subsequently imposed later that night.
On 20 July, after having a meal around 4pm, Imon left home with two friends, Nayeem and Shaheen, to join the movement at Tetultola intersection. At around 4:30pm, Shaheen rushed back to inform Imon’s elder brother, Rajib, that Imon had been shot.
Imon’s mother, her husband, and Rajib rushed towards Tetultola intersection near M Z Hospital, where gunfire was coming from all directions, including from above. They found Imon lying unconscious and drenched in blood, causing his mother to faint at the scene.
Three men brought Imon’s body on a rickshaw to the street outside their house, while his unconscious mother was also brought home.
Upon regaining consciousness, the mother examined her son’s body outside their residence and found a bullet wound mark at the back of his skull, the skin on his left cheek hanging loose like a rat’s hole, and bullet marks on one side of his chest.
It was at this moment that a long-haired Awami League leader confronted her and warned sternly, “You have got the body, you cannot cry. Otherwise, I will make the body disappear.”
Obstacles during funeral, final burial
The family encountered further hurdles while preparing for Imon’s final bath and funeral prayers (Janaza), as a local mosque refused to provide a funeral bier (khatia) to his elder brother Rajib. They eventually secured a funeral bier and assistance for the ritual bath from another mosque.
Following the Janaza at around 11pm, the family departed for their village home in an ambulance amidst ongoing gunfire. During the journey, their ambulance was intercepted at three separate locations by Awami League leaders and activists as well as members of law enforcement agencies.
After pleading with them, the family was allowed to pass, arriving at their village home around 8:30am on 21 July, where Imon was buried in the family graveyard.
Concluding her deposition, Imon’s mother described the horror of that night, the constant fear of losing her son’s remains, and her painful struggle to give him a burial, while reiterating her demand for justice.
