INDIA: Another minor killed by the Border Security Force in West Bengal

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed by MASUM, a local human rights organisation in West Bengal that a young boy of 15 years of age was killed by a BSF officer in West Bengal on 23 July 2008.  The officer was reportedly trying to find a group of smugglers along the Indo-Bangladesh border area but became enraged when the victim, who does not speak Hindi, could not understand the officer’s questions. As the victim was unable to answer on the whereabouts of the smugglers or understand what the officer was saying he was shot and killed.  A number of eyewitnesses were present during the incident.

CASE DETAILS:

At 11.50am, on July 23, 2008 Shilajit Mondal (age 15) was shot by one of the BSF constables, Mr. Islam, from Ranjanagar Border Out Post Camp. The victim, Shilajit, is son of Mr. Golok Mondal, from Rajanagar village, Raninagar police state, Mushidabad district, West Bengal.

On the July 23 at 11.30am smugglers trying to cross the border to Bangladesh with bags of fertiliser were chased by officers of the Border Security Force (BSF) Battalion number 90. One of the BSF constables Mr. Islam was able to reach there by motor boat.

At the same time Shilajit from a poor family, was sitting in front of his mud house at the road side.  Constable Islam asked him in Hindi on the whereabouts of the smugglers but the victim was unable to reply as he does not speak Hindi, nor did he have information on the smugglers. Islam grabbed Shilajit and began to beat him. Local people nearby heard the cries of the victim came rushing to the area and tried to intervene to protect Shilajit.

As Shilajit was standing at the gate of their courtyard Islam used his gun and fired at the victim. As Shilajit fell to the ground Islam fled on the motor boat. The bullet entered the victim through the left chest and exited through his back.

There were many eyewitnesses, and one named Mr. Nilkanta Mondal, son of Nani Gopal Mondal of the same village confirmed these events to MASUM. Mr. Mondal and other villagers, in an attempt to save Shilajit’s life hired a maruti van for INR 750 (USD 17.8) and then took the victim by car and admitted him to the district hospital Berhampore New General Hospital at 1:45pm, where he was received by Dr. Piyali Yadav.

The victim was immediately advised to be sent into the operating theatre and the doctor’s arranged two bottles of blood but the victim’s condition continued to deteriorate rapidly and at 3pm on the same day Shilajit died before reaching the operating theatre.

In Rajanagar village, after the car had left for the hospital with Shilajit there was increasing agitation amongst the villagers towards the BSF. The villagers blocked the main road and demanded immediate action. The Company Commandant of the 90th Battalion arrived to disperse the angry villagers and fired 11 rounds at the villagers. The protesters on the same day burned several border outposts. To prevent further incidents the Sub Inspector of Raninagar Police Station patrolled the area with a large number of officers.

Ms. Karna Dasi Mondal registered a First Information Report (FIR) at 12:15pm on July 23 and police officers asked Shilajit’s mother to put her signature on a paper at the Raningar police station. The police started a case against the BSF under sections 341/323/326/307 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Case No. 151/08, but failed to read this out to the victim’s family nor did they provide a copy of the FIR–mandatory under Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The investigating officer is Mr. Rajat Das.

The BSF also made a complaint against the victim, Case No. 152/08, made by Inspector Mr. J.R. Chowdhury, Company Comander, G-Company, Battalion 90, under sections 147/148/149/186/353/324/325/326 of the IPC. This was not registered until 8:15pm.

On the next day of the incident, July 24, the postmortem of the victim was conducted by Dr. S. K. Mondal in the morgue in Berhampore New General Hospital.  The postmortem recorded unnatural death, Case No. 521/08, dated the 24 July 2008.

The BSF constable Mr. Islam has not received any reprimand for his actions and according to MASUM continues in service.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

Fertiliser is smuggled across the Indo-Bangladesh border as the cost is much higher in Bangladesh than in India. A MASUM fact-finding report uncovered that Mr. Islam has been assisting smugglers across the border to Bangladesh and for each bag of fertiliser he receives INR100 (USD 2.56) from the smugglers.  MASUM suggest that Mr. Islam had not received his commission from the smugglers on July 23 resulting in his unexplained anger towards the victim.

The BSF is a paramilitary unit assigned to maintain and control the border area but instead BSF officers are notorious for their serious abuse of human rights. Extrajudicial and arbitrary killing, torture and rape are commonplace and often the victims are poor and from the Scheduled Castes.

The Border Security Force Act (BSF Act) 1968 and the Border Security Force Rules (BSF Rules) 1969 was enacted to regulate the Armed Forces and Section 47 states: ‘[a] person subject to this Act who commits an offence of murder or of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against, or rape in relation to, a person not subject to this Act shall not be deemed to be guilty of an offence against this Act and shall not be tried by a Security Force Court unless he commits any of the said offence, – (a) while on active duty‘.

This anomaly in the law relating to the engagement of the BSF stands in way of the BSF officer in question to be tried in a civilian court. The proceedings of the Security Force Court are not transparent, where the civilians have little access. This often results in military personnel escaping independent and impartial justice as under a civilian court.

BSF officers are widely known to act to enable cross-border smuggling so as to benefit from the financial rewards and pay-offs from smugglers. The district of Murshidabad is very close to the Indo-Bangladesh border and there is wide-spread corruption amongst the BSF, with local residents often subject to maltreatment.

However, despite the legislation passed under the BSF Act 1968 which specifically make Islam’s actions accountable and criminal, these cases are most often not pursued in accordance with the law because of intimidation or low expectations of the victims’ families.
 
The AHRC has written a number of Urgent Appeals on the actions of the BSF against ordinary citizens.  Please refer to previous Urgent Appeals: AHRC-UAC-165-2008, AHRC-UAC-084-2008, AHRC-UAC-080-2008, AHRC-UAC-046-2008, AHRC-UAC-003-2008, UA-314-2007, UA-272-2008, UA-251-2007, UA-157-2007, UA-110-2007 and UA-072-2007.

Furthermore, the government of India has ignored visiting requests by the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions since 2000, even though India is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). 

Article 6(1) of the ICCPR states: ‘[e]very human being has the inherent right to life.  This right shall be protected by law.  No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life’.  It is the obligation of states party to the ICCPR to ensure this and that the right to life is enjoyed as far as possible.  Article 2(1) ensures states shall do this ‘…without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status‘.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the authorities listed below urging them to take action against the BSF constable, Mr. Islam, and to provide protection and support to the victim’s family to pursue a case in court.

The AHRC has also written a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions calling for an intervention in this case.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER