Testimony of Shahina Begum

I am the mother of Shaheed Sajjad Hossain Sojal, who participated in the July 2024 movement.

My son, Sajjad Hossain Sojal, joined the protest on 5 August 2024 at Bipail area, Ashulia. At that time, I was working as a sanitation worker at Ashulia Women and Children Hospital. My son went to participate in the movement while I went on duty at the hospital. Continuously, gunshot victims were being brought to the hospital. I repeatedly called my son and told him to return home, saying, “Son, come back home. Many injured people are arriving at the hospital. You don’t need to be at the protest.”

He replied to me, “Why are you being so selfish, Amma? I cannot return home now. There are four dead bodies in front of me, and I am attending to an injured person.”

Around 11:00–11:30 AM, two dead bodies arrived at the hospital. Many injured patients also came. I called my son again, but he replied, “How can you ask me to return?” I told him, “You are my only son. You have a sister. I want to make you an engineer.” But he still did not return. He replied, “Mother, if I die, thousands of children will stand by your side. Don’t worry about me.”

After that, two more dead bodies arrived at the hospital. I ran to the rickshaw and thought that my son might have come to the hospital. At that moment, a boy with a gunshot wound to the chest arrived at our hospital. I was taking him to the X-ray room. The boy called his mother and told her, “Amma, I am fine.” Another injured boy was being carried on a stretcher. He told his friend beside him, “Do not tell my mother about my condition. Tell her I am fine. Otherwise, she will worry too much.”

Seeing this horrifying situation, I kept trying to call my son repeatedly. I told him, “If you still want to participate in the movement, then go to Jahangirnagar University instead, where more protesters are.” My son replied, “Are you mad, Amma? My brothers and sisters are being shot and dying. How can I leave them and go to Jahangirnagar?”

Finally, at 2:45 PM, I called him again. He replied, “Why are you disturbing me with calls, Amma? If I become a martyr, identify me using my ID card.”

At 2:55 PM, the doctors at the hospital told me, “The country is free. Sheikh Hasina has fled. Tell Sojal to come.” I called him twice, but he hung up. I kept trying to call, but no one answered. Later, the phone went dead. I then contacted all his friends and asked them to search for him in Bipail area. They said continuous gunfire was happening, and they could not search. We could not go near Ashulia Police Station either. I myself could not go to search because many injured gunshot victims kept arriving at the hospital. At around 7:00 PM, I left the hospital to search for my son. I took along one of Sojal’s friends named Shanto. I checked all the nearby hospitals but could not find my son. I even went into the ICU and looked at the patients’ faces to search for him. I saw many unclaimed dead bodies and examined them carefully. The staff tried to stop me from looking at the bodies, saying, “You are the mother; you will not be able to bear it. The deceased have been shot in the head and chest and are mutilated. Seeing them, you might collapse.”

My husband also searched for our son in various hospitals, but we could not find him. After searching throughout the day and until around 3:50 AM, I returned home, passing by Bipail Mor. There, I saw students standing guard with sticks. I wanted to ask them about my son and showed them photos of him on my mobile phone.

One boy said to me, “Aunty, if you can bear it, I want to tell you some news.” I replied, “I am ready to endure anything to find my son, please tell me.” The boy then said, “Six or seven boys were killed and burned in front of Ashulia Police Station. You can search there for your son.”

When I tried to go to Ashulia Police Station, other students did not let me go and forced me to return home. At home, I performed Tahajjud and Fajr prayers and left again around 6:00 AM. At approximately 6:30 AM, I reached in front of Ashulia Police Station. There, I saw several burned bodies in a police pickup truck. Many people were taking photos and videos of the bodies. I pushed through the crowd and took one photo myself. This printed photo is Exhibit-2.

I noticed one body had burned in such a way that a thick bone of the foot was exposed, and a shoe was hanging from it in a burnt condition. With a slight touch, the shoe could fall off. Seeing that shoe, I recognized it as my son Sojal’s shoe.

(At this point, the witness broke down crying.)

I told the soldiers present, “This is my son’s body. Please give me my son’s body.” The army personnel replied that it was not permitted to hand over the bodies at that time, but they would inform me once permission was granted.

Helpless, I requested the doctors at my workplace hospital to help me recover my son’s body. Around 4:30 PM, Sojal’s friends called me and told me to go to the place where the bodies had been burned. I arrived there around 5:00 PM. One by one, the burned bodies were removed from the vehicle and identification was attempted.

The army allowed me to go near the bodies. When my son Sojal’s body was brought out, I identified him through a partially burned ID card from his workplace and his university ID card inside his wallet. This bloodstained ID card is Exhibit-3.

(The printed copy of the ID card was returned to the witness, while the original was retained.)

When I first took a photo of my son’s body, I saw his mobile phone next to his burned hand. From this, I realized that he was still alive in the moments before being burned and was trying to communicate with someone using his phone. I believe that while he was being burned, he desperately tried to inform us of his condition or attempted to write a message, but because one body was thrown on top of another, he could not send any message or make a call.

After a gun salute by the army, and in the presence of many people on Ashulia Road, the funeral prayer was performed, and the bodies of my son and three others were handed over to their respective families. After receiving my son’s body, I took it to my workplace hospital. The hospital authorities issued a death certificate, wrapped him in a shroud, placed him in a coffin, and transported him by hospital vehicle to my ancestral home in Shyampur, Saghata Upazila, Gaibandha District. He was buried there on 7 August 2024.

My son Sojal was pursuing a B.Sc. in Textile Engineering at City University and simultaneously worked at a food shop called “Testy Treat.”

My son had a two-year-old daughter. She goes to her father’s grave and calls out, saying, “Papa, get up, Papa, get up.” Two videos are submitted to the court: one showing this at the grave, and another showing Sojal participating in the protest on the streets holding the national flag. Both videos are saved on a pen drive, which has been submitted to the Tribunal today. This is Exhibit-IV.

I demand justice against Sheikh Hasina, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, IGP Mamun, Obaidul Quader, Saiful MP, the Awami League, Jubo League, Chhatra League, and Police League, who are responsible for the killing of my child and 2,000 other people.

The investigating officer has interrogated me. This is my testimony.

Cross Examination
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