War Crimes: 7 Get Death Penalty in Bagerhat

A tribunal has sentenced seven people to death for committing a series of crimes against humanity, including murder and rape, in Bagerhat during the 1971 Liberation War.

A three-member panel of the International Crimes Tribunal headed by Justice Md Shahinur Islam passed the verdict on Thursday (November 30).

Among the convicts, Khan Akram Hossain, Sheikh Md Ukil Uddin, and Md Mollah were in the dock when the verdict was announced.

The others -- Khan Arshad Ali, Rustom Ali Molla, Sheikh Idris Ali, and Sheikh Rafiqul Islam Babul -- are absconding.

On May 31, 2017, the tribunal took the complaint against the accused into consideration and opened trial proceedings after framing multiple war crimes charges against them.

The charges include collaborating with the Pakistani occupation forces and launching attacks on unarmed freedom fighters in Moralganj's Chapari and Teligati. The assailants looted and destroyed numerous houses, resulting in the deaths of 10 freedom fighters and serious injuries to two others.

Another charge centred on the abduction of four pro-independence figures in Kachua Upazila's Hazrakhali and Baikhali Ramnagar. The victims were subsequently killed. The court also addressed instances in Dhuligati village, where they executed two unarmed freedom fighters.

Further charges involved the confinement, torture, and shooting of four pro-independence individuals in Kachua's Bilkul and Bichat villages. Another accusation detailed the abduction, torture, and shooting of freedom fighter Munsur Ali Naqeeb in Bilkul village.

The convicts were also accused of killing Ukil Uddin Majhi, who supported the independence struggle, in Kachua's Udankhali village. They later abducted his daughter and four others to the Razakar camp, where they were raped.

Lastly, the court addressed an attack on Ghazalia market in Kachua, where an unarmed Sridham Karmakar and his wife were detained and tortured by the assailants. Sridham died, and his wife was taken to the Kachua Razakar camp, where she, along with four others, fell victim to rape. After a month of enduring physical abuse, Sridham's wife managed to escape.