Forced to sell assets, mounting debt: Inquiry commission reveals impact of prosecutions on disappearance victims, families

The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances has found that victims of enforced disappearance during Sheikh Hasina's tenure not only faced rights violations at the hands of security agencies but also suffered crippling economic, psychological, and social harm due to fabricated criminal cases that followed.

In its second interim report, the commission described how the justice process -- far from providing redress -- became a prolonged source of trauma, coercion, and impoverishment for the victims and their families.

Financial ruin compounded by legal coercion

Families of victims often had to spend staggering amounts on legal costs, with many paying more than two years' worth of household income to fight multiple cases.

The median spending stood at Tk700,000, the report said — more than double the average annual income of a Bangladeshi household.

"Families were forced to sell assets, take out informal loans, or live under mounting debt," the commission noted, adding that such financial burdens deepened the initial trauma and created new forms of hardship for low- and middle-income households.

Endless court appearances and emotional toll

The report stated that many victims — often still in their youth — spent years navigating the legal system, summoned frequently under routine bail conditions.

In cases where multiple charges had been filed, victims had to travel long distances several times a month to appear in courtrooms scattered across the country.

These proceedings, described as fabricated and punitive, inflicted "immeasurable psychological toll and physical exhaustion," the report said.

Instead of serving justice, the process functioned as an extended punishment.

Trauma, disrupted lives, and long-term suffering

Beyond court proceedings, victims also endured lasting psychological effects, including the need for continued medical and psychiatric care.

The Commission highlighted one particularly harrowing case involving a teenage boy who was subjected to disappearance, prolonged secret detention, prison time, and visible signs of torture.

At the time of his abduction, he had just been promoted to class nine. He spent the next four years in secret detention and jail, emerging with serious psychological issues.

Witnesses recalled his constant crying and abuse while in custody. Multiple survivors identified him from separate detention facilities, but it took years of patient investigation to confirm his identity.

The boy was eventually located at a bicycle repair shop where he lived with his father, still mentally unwell and barely functioning.

He had not resumed education, and the family remained deeply impoverished and confused by the legal entanglements that followed his release.

A justice system that deepens suffering

The Commission concluded that the criminal justice system in such cases was not a source of remedy but rather a mechanism of extended punishment.

From the moment of disappearance to the long tail of court hearings and financial ruin, the process often replicated and compounded the original harm.

"Rather than offering relief, the justice process often imposes further suffering," the report stated.

The findings underscore the need for structural reform, support for survivors, and safeguards against the political abuse of legal institutions.