The desperate plea of a stylish man disfigured by police shotgun fire

It is as if Khokon’s face was obliterated by the bullet. The police officer who shot him deliberately targeted his face. Photo: Mehedi Hasan

Khokon Chandra Barman could not resist the call to join the procession. 

The protesters had announced that their rally to Ganabhaban, originally scheduled for 6 August, would be moved up a day.

But on 5 August, things got heated in Jatrabari — one of Dhaka's fiercest battlegrounds during the July Uprising — as around 36 protesters were shot dead by police in the area on that day alone. 

The indiscriminate shooting could not stop the will of the people though, who came in tens of thousands to the streets, caring little about their lives. They, including Khokon, were determined to topple Sheikh Hasina's regime.

A driver by profession, Khokon responded to the call of the protestors, who urged the people to join their rally for freedom.

"I wanted to play my part in the country's freedom. But I didn't know it would cost me my face," said Khokon, as he lay on the hospital bed, his speech barely comprehensible. 

His lips, nose, and a significant portion of his face is gone, leaving his tongue exposed. A cannula attached directly to his respiratory system is the only way he can breathe in oxygen.

Even after Hasina fled the country on 5 August afternoon, her loyal police forces continued shooting at people in Jatrabari, as well as many other areas across the country. 

One such officer shot Khokon at a very close range, just a few inches from his face, with a shotgun.

"My brother has always been stylish and conscious of his appearance. Now his face is gone, and it's in a horrific state. When I first saw him in the hospital, I couldn't even recognise if it was my brother," said Khoka, his elder brother.

Face almost blown off, but not dead 

Khokon begged the police officers not to shoot him. They were so close to him that shooting at that point meant certain death. 

And on that day in Jatrabari, death came in abundance. Videos have emerged since that show police shooting people from close range near Jatrabari police station. 

Khokon said that the police officer who shot him deliberately targeted his face.

"I fell there. People thought I was dead. But I wasn't. I raised my hands for help. Some people rushed towards me, and lifted me up," he said. 

Khoka shared a video, taken by another protestor moments after his brother was shot, from the spot.

The graphic video shows Khokon's face, disfigured and bloody, as other protestors lift him up. 

"It was as if his face was obliterated by the bullet," Khoka said. 

Before he lost his senses, Khokon unlocked his phone and handed it to protesters so that they could inform his family. Afterwards he was brought to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

'Speed up my treatment or let me die' 

The severity of  Khokon's wound posed a credible threat to his survival. But he made it.

However, he is not sure if he wants to live anymore.

"Whenever I look at my face, I get scared of myself. I don't want to go on like this," he said. 

Khoka said his brother has been growing impatient because of the pain and mental trauma. His family has been accompanying him to the hospital for two months now. At the time we spoke to them, their home in Sherpur, had been flooded. 

The family is in financial trouble. Khoka, like Khokon, is also a driver, who has been on leave from work for a while now in order to take care of his brother. 

On the other hand, facial reconstruction surgery is a very expensive treatment. 

After the photo of his situation went viral, the government pledged to send him to Russia for treatment. Student leader Sarjis Alam recently met Khokon at the hospital and also made pledges. But his treatment would cost crores. 

"Many people helped me during this time, I don't know them and I forgot the names of many others. I want to thank them. But I cannot continue living like this. Either let me die or please ask them to speed up my treatment," Khokon pleaded.