Lucky Begum, the wife of martyred auto-rickshaw driver Ismail, has given witness testimony against four individuals, including two army officers, in a case over crimes against humanity committed in Dhaka’s Rampura during the July-August mass uprising.
In her deposition, she detailed the circumstances following her husband being shot, taking him to hospital, and harassment faced from police and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel while transporting his body to their village home.
She claimed that her husband was martyred by police and BGB bullets.
She delivered her testimony at the International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Thursday. The tribunal has set 28 October for the next hearing of the case. Prosecutors Abdus Sattar Palwan and Mamunur Rashid conducted the hearing on behalf of the prosecution.
In her deposition, Lucky Begum said around 3:30pm on 19 July 2024, her husband left home to drive his auto-rickshaw. Around the time of Maghrib prayers, a friend of her son arrived and informed them that his father had been shot dead in front of Delta Care Hospital.
Hearing the news, both she and her son fainted. A short while later, upon regaining consciousness, they saw a neighbour bringing her husband’s body home on a rickshaw-van.
Lucky mentioned in her statement that Ismail’s skull was shattered, his brain matter had come out, and his whole body was bloody.
She said her husband was taken to Better Life Hospital to bandage his head, as the body could not be moved without bandaging. As an ambulance could not be secured from the hospital, transporting the body to their village home was initially not possible.
Later, her brother-in-law arranged an ambulance from home and arrived at the hospital. Subsequently, she, her son, and relatives set off for their village home with the body.
According to Lucky Begum, police and BGB harassed them in various ways along the way and held up the ambulance. The ambulance was allowed to proceed only after they falsely mentioned that Ismail had died in an accident.
She further said that her husband was buried in the family graveyard at their village home on 20 July. She later came to know through news on Facebook, YouTube, and the media that her husband was martyred by police and BGB bullets.
In her deposition, she named Rafat, Redwan, Rashedul, and Mashiur, mentioning that they were involved in the killing of her husband. At this stage, she broke down in tears.
She subsequently identified a photograph of her husband’s bullet-riddled body presented as part of the seizure list, custody receipt, and documentary evidence. At the end of her testimony, Lucky Begum demanded justice for her husband’s murder.
