Published : 28 Oct 2025, 02:24 AM
Updated : 21 Aug 2026, 02:38 PM
Six-year-old Md Basit Khan Musa, once full of dreams of soaring through the skies as a pilot, now struggles with paralysis on one side of his body after suffering a gunshot during the July Uprising.
Outside the International Crimes Tribunal on Monday, his father Md Mostafizur Rahman spoke to journalists, having testified in a case on crimes against humanity in Rampura.
Mostafizur appeared as witness number two before ICT-1.
On Jul 19, 2024, Musa's grandmother Maya Islam and two others were killed in a shooting in Rampura’s Banasree.
A case has been filed against five people, including the then Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Habibur Rahman Habib, Rampura Police chief Mashiur Rahman, and Constable Chanchal Chandra Sarkar.
Mostafizur, an electrical equipment trader in Dhaka, told reporters: “My son wanted to become a pilot, to fly planes. He always came first in class. Now his right side is paralysed.
“He cannot eat or speak. He has to be fed through an NG tube. He has been receiving treatment in Singapore since the beginning. Doctors have said he will get better, but it will take time.”
As he spoke, his voice choked with tears.
He testified that on Friday, Jul 19, 2024, around 3:30pm, he was leaving home to deliver food to his father when his son Musa asked for ice cream.
Taking Musa and his mother downstairs, he intended to return home with his mother after buying ice cream.
He said a police bullet fired from outside the gate struck Musa in the head, entering and exiting, and he immediately rushed him to Famous Hospital.
After initial treatment, they reached Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) around 7pm, where doctors performed surgery on Musa’s head.
“The Rampura Police Station is about 70 feet from my house, and from his gate, I could see Officer Mashiur and several other officers firing.”
When he could not reach his mother by phone, he called a neighbour to check on her. He said the bullet that hit Musa had also struck his mother in the stomach.
She was immediately admitted to Farazy Hospital, but he could not leave DMCH due to the ongoing shooting outside.
A relative later went to Farazy Hospital, where doctors advised transferring her to DMCH.
However, no transportation was available, and the heavy gunfire outside made the transfer impossible.
That night, he sent his father to take her, but they could not reach DMCH without an ambulance.
The next morning around 5am, he arranged an ambulance, and his father transported her to the hospital.
Her condition worsened en route, and after an ECG, doctors declared her dead.
Mostafizur broke down in tears while recounting the events.
He said Musa was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) until Aug 26, and then transferred to Combined Military Hospital (CMH). There, he remained in the ICU until Oct 22.
After that, when his condition continued to deteriorate, he was taken to Singapore for treatment by air ambulance from Oct 23, 2024, to Apr 3, 2025.
Mostafizur said that the government bore all his medical expenses.
After being brought from Singapore, Musa was kept under observation at CMH until Jul 9, before being returned to Singapore for further treatment until Jul 26.
Musa appeared at the tribunal on Monday with his father, still bearing bullet wounds on his head and attached medical equipment.
Mostafizur demanded justice for those responsible for his mother’s death and his son’s injuries.
