STAFF CORRESPONDENT

When protesters arrived at Dhaka Medical College Hospital with gunshot wounds, the doctors were asked by the hospital authorities to conceal any mention of the nature of the injury on the official documentation.

Dr Mostak Ahmed, a trauma surgeon at the hospital’s casualty ward, said this at a discussion on custodial torture while sharing his experience treating victims of gunshot injuries during July and August.

“We could not write that a victim had gunshot wounds. We had to write some other cause,” he said. “Autopsies were not always possible because of the sheer volume of bodies coming in.”

The discussion titled “Custodial Torture and Accountability: Challenges and Remediation” was organised by Bangladesh Legal Aid Services Trust at Bishwa Sahitya Kendra in Dhaka.

Speakers talked about the challenges that victims of the July revolution will face when seeking justice for the atrocities perpetrated upon them.

“Given that so many of the victims who have suffered at the hands of the law enforcers do not have adequate medical documentation recording the cause of their death or injury, we are dependent on circumstantial evidence,” said Dr Qazi Zahed In

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