‘Don't cry, you got the body. Otherwise we will make it disappear’: Mother of slain 14yr-old testifies

This was the threat given to a mother at the very moment when the bloodied body of her 14-year-old child lay before her.

Appearing before the tribunal on Wednesday, Kulsum Begum, mother of 14-year-old martyr Emon, who was killed by gunfire during the July Uprising, recounted the harrowing incident.

In an emotional testimony in the case of crimes against humanity against Bangladesh Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon and Awami League Presidium Member Qamrul Islam, she recalled Emon taking up rickshaw-pulling at such a tender age to support the family.

But this was not to last. Around 4pm on July 20, 2024, after finishing his meal, Emon went with his friends to the Tetultala intersection in Badda to join a protest.

Around 4:30pm, news came that Emon had been shot.

Upon hearing the news, his parents rushed to save their son, paying no heed to the gunfire still raging in the area.

When they reached the Tetultala intersection, they saw Emon, bloodied and motionless. Kulsum Begum fainted at the sight.

Later, neighbours took Emon and his mother home.

After regaining consciousness, she saw the body and recounted how she recoiled in horror when she saw a bullet hole at the back of his head, the skin of his left cheek hanging, and fresh blood stains on his chest.

At that time, an Awami League activist with long hair came and directly threatened her—if she cried, the body would be made to disappear.

The horror did not end even after his death, Kulsum testified.

A local mosque even refused to provide a bier for bathing the body.

Later, with the help of another mosque, after the bathing and funeral prayers, the family left for their village home by ambulance at around 11pm.

Kulsum recalled bullets still raining down on their journey. The Awami League’s terror was yet to end, as members of law enforcement agencies and party activists stopped their ambulance three times.

Emon was buried at the family cemetery at around 8:30am the following day, July 21.

Kulsum Begum stood in the tribunal’s witness box and directly blamed then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Obaidul Quader, Rashed Khan Menon and Qamrul Islam for the brutal killing.

Three charges of crimes against humanity have been brought against Rashed Khan Menon and Qamrul Islam, including incitement to suppress the July-August student-people movement, instigating the use of lethal weapons and conspiring to impose a curfew, including the killing of 23 people in the Badda area.

Both have been in prison since August 5, 2024, after being ousted from power.