Attack on Khadiza
Speedy trial ordered
Taking a tough stand against Bangladesh Chatra League (BCL) leader Badrul Alam, accused of stabbing a college student in Sylhet, the home ministry has directed the authorities concerned to try the case in the Speedy Trial Tribunal (STT).
Badrul is charged with stabbing Khadiza Akter Nargis indiscriminately on Monday, leaving her critically injured.
The BCL leader in Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) has confessed to his crime. I attacked Khadiza because I was infuriated with her for turning down my overtures of love, he told a court.
The attack on Khadiza triggered an outrage, with students from various educational institutions, politicians and civil society demanding stern action against the culprit. This prompted the home ministry to order a speedy trial of the leader of the ruling partys student wing.
We dont care whether Badrul is a BCL leader or not. No one is above the law. He committed a shocking crime and will be punished like acriminal, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told The Independent yesterday.
Badrul will be tried under the STT so that no one can dare to commit such a heinous crime in future, the minister said.
Under a provision of the Law and Order Disrupting Crime (Speedy Trial) (Amendment) law, the STT will have to dispose of a case within 90 working days of the case being transferred to it. If the case cannot be disposed of in that time, 30 more working days would be granted.
Meanwhile, BNP secretary general Fakhrul Islam Alamgir visited Khadiza, who has been undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Square Hospital, Dhaka. Urging the government to take stern action against Khadizas attacker, the BNP leader said, It is an inhuman act and the BCL leader mercilessly stabbed her with the intention to kill her. Such incidents prove how terrorists are patronised and how they carry out violence, he added.
On his part, National Human Rights Commission chairman Kazi Reazul Hoque has urged the law enforcement agencies to press charges against the accused as soon as possible. Badrul is basically a criminal and the authorities concerned must ensure exemplary punishment for him, he said.
According to the police, a profusely bleeding Khadiza was rescued by one Imran Kabir after the stabbing and taken to a hospital in Sylhet. She was shifted to Dhakas Square Hospital after her condition deteriorated on Tuesday. Doctors at the hospital informed that her condition was very critical and she would be kept in the ICU for 72 hours.
