Muktijudho
Liberation War Women victims of liberation war deserve highest respect: Tribunal
Own Correspondent, Dhaka, March 25: The International Criminal Tribunal has said in a statement that the trauma suffered by women during the war of liberation against the Pakistani army and its allies could not be remedied by anything. We salute them. They deserve the highest respect.
The tribunal made the observation while announcing the death sentence of two persons including former Jamaat MP Abdul Khaleq Mondal on charges of crimes against humanity such as murder and rape in Satkhira area during the war of liberation in 1971. Another convict, Khan Roknuzzaman, is a Jamaat supporter in the same area. He is currently absconding.
On Thursday (March 24), a three-member bench headed by the chairman and judge of the tribunal, Md. Shahinur Islam, read out the 208-page summary of the verdict. The other two members of the tribunal are Justice Abu Ahmed Jamadar and Justice KM Hafizul Alam.
Regarding the verdict, the state prosecutors said that the International Criminal Tribunal had sentenced the accused to death on three counts. Referring to the abandonment of women victims of rape in 1971, the tribunal said that the emotional trauma that women go through cannot be met with anything. We salute them. They deserve the highest respect.
After the verdict was announced, state prosecutor Mokhlesur Rahman Badal said the tribunal had named women victims of rape during the war as the most respected people in the nation. Six Bangladeshi naval commandos were arrested by Pakistani troops while returning unarmed after a mine exploded inside a ship at Mongla port. Two were killed and four were detained and tortured. Khaleq Mandal was present there and the torture took place under his direction.
Another allegation is that the two were raped by Pakistani soldiers. One woman died after being raped. Although there was no direct involvement of Khaleq Mandal in the incident, he had fueled the crime.
