The second Section 36 application supported by the EPD Team was filed in Kishoreganj and resulted in Bangladesh’s first-ever hearing on a Section 36 application by a DRPA district committee. The application was filed on July 4, 2019, with Md. Kamruzzaman Khan, Deputy Director of the District Social Services Office in Kishoreganj, and ex officio secretary of the district committee. On August, 1 2019, the Kishoreganj DRPA district committee held Bangladesh’s first reported hearing in the matter of a complaint for compensation filed pursuant to DRPA Section 36. Mr. Sarwer Morshed Chowdhury (District Commissioner of Kishoreganj) presided over the meeting. View Jugantor's report of the hearing here.

A second hearing on this matter was held on August 21, 2019, and a four-person investigation sub-committee was formed. Their investigation report was due within 30 days of the second hearing. View the Kishoreganj Journal's report of this hearing here.

The applicant, Md. Mosharaf Mia, is 18 years old and has an intellectual disability covered by the DRPA. He sought BDT 670,000 (approx. USD 8,170) in damages for rights violations relating to allegations of physical abuse. A criminal case was also registered at Tarail police station on charges of attempted murder and serious injury. The incident at the center of the application was first reported in the Kishoreganj Journal on June 6, 2019 here. The story was also reported by BanglaNews24.com and the Dhaka Tribune.

Five Bangladeshi men stand together outside of a white-washed office building on a sunny day.
(L to R) Bashir al-Hossain of NGDO, Jalal Uddin of SEID’s self-advocacy group, Md. Rejaul Karim Siddiquee of BLI, and the Section 36 applicant Md. Mosharaf Mia, and Md. Faridul Alam. In the upper righthand corner appears one of the accused, Mokholesur Rahman Khan Shahan.