“I have become a blind mother to my two children. The only person responsible for my blindness is Sheikh Hasina,” testified Parvin, who lost sight in one eye after being shot by police in Jatrabari on July 18, 2024.
Her emotional statement was given before the three-member International Crimes Tribunal-1, led by Justice Golam Mortuza Mojumder, on Monday.
Standing at the witness stand while eight months pregnant, the 27-year-old recounted her ordeal: “My name is Parvin. I used to live in Kutubkhali, Jatrabari, Dhaka, but now I stay at my husband’s house in Barishal. Back then, I worked as a daily wage labourer. On July 18, 2024, after finishing work in Jurain at 5pm, I couldn’t find transport and started walking. At Jatrabari, I saw many people injured and bleeding. Under the flyover, I found an 18 or 19-year-old boy lying on the ground, covered in blood and crying out for help, blood streaming from his eyes. He had an ID card around his neck. He clung to me, pleading to be saved.
As I searched for a rickshaw to take him to the hospital, around 14-15 policemen approached and opened fire on him. Bullets struck his back. I raised my left hand, begging them to stop, but a policeman shot me in the left eye, and then three more bullets hit my lower abdomen and elsewhere. Blood gushed from my eye, flooding the road. I collapsed with the boy. He took one last breath and seemed to die there. People later said, ‘The boy is dead, but the woman is alive.’ Someone then rushed me to Dhaka Medical College Hospital in a CNG.
At the hospital, I was told, ‘This is a police case,’ and treatment was delayed. A nurse asked me if I had 250 taka for eye drops. I had nothing, but another woman gave the money. My husband arrived from Barishal the next morning, sold household items and my earrings to pay for surgery. Three bullets were removed from my eye, but more remained in my body. Doctors later referred me to the National Eye Hospital, but my operation was delayed until after the country’s liberation on August 5. By then, my left eye was permanently damaged, and my vision in the right eye weakened.
Now, eight months pregnant, I am almost blind to my two children. I hold Sheikh Hasina responsible for this. Even my children demand justice for their mother’s blindness. I seek justice for myself, for the martyrs, and for all the injured. Police shot us on Sheikh Hasina’s orders. Without her command, they would not have dared.”
Parvin repeatedly broke down in tears during her testimony.
Afterward, she was cross-examined by state-appointed defense lawyer Md. Amir Hossain, representing Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.
The tribunal adjourned the hearing and set August 6 for the next session. Prosecutor Mizanul Islam represented the prosecution, while former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who was present as an accused, was represented by lawyer Zayed Bin Amjad.
