Meghalya HC orders BSF to pay Rs 11 lakh compensation

The BSF has been directed by the Meghalaya High Court to pay Rs 11 lakh as a compensation for the death of a 16 year-old boy in BSF firing in a remote village of East Khasi Hills district along the Indo-Bangladesh border seven years ago. "It remains no doubt that the cause of death was due to the firing by the BSF personnel from a distance, hence, the respondent is liable to pay compensation to the petitioner for losing his son, Justice Sudip Ranjan Sen said in his order on Monday. The court directed the BSF to pay the compensation of Rs 11,28,000, taking into consideration that the boy was an unskilled labour and would be earning for over 45 years during his lifetime. Justice Sen directed the BSF to make the payments within three months from the date of the order. The petitioner Baiti Sangma and his son Mithun A Marak were among the people who had gathered at Khasimara village near Ryngku following a commotion on March 3, 2007. While the BSF claimed that they had to fire to disperse some villagers who were trying to smuggle bamboo to Bangladesh, the witnesses from the villagers had maintained that there was an attempt by the BSF personnel to harm two girls of the village. The petitioner was also severely beaten up by the BSF personnel and thereafter they started indiscriminate firing in which petitioners son Mithun A Marak, who was then 16, died. The court had taken into account the inquiry report of the then Additional Deputy Commissioner, T Lyngwa, and concluded that the cause of the death was due to the firing by the BSF personnel.

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