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Rajkumari Rabidas Fulmati, a recognised war heroine and wounded woman freedom fighter who suffered torture by Pakistani forces during the 1971 Liberation War, was laid to rest with state honours in Gaibandha’s Sadullapur on Friday (October 2).
A guard of honour was given to Fulmati at around 3pm at the Northpara Government Primary School field. Assistant Commissioner and Executive Magistrate Md Ashraful Haque represented the district administration at the ceremony.
Officials from the administration and police, including Sadullapur Police Station Inspector (Investigation) Hasan Kabir, were present.
Fulmati was later buried beside her ancestors in the courtyard of her home following Hindu religious rituals.
She died at her home on Thursday evening (October 1) at the age of 84. She had been suffering from age-related illnesses and had been largely bedridden since suffering a stroke about two years ago, which left the right side of her body paralysed. She is survived by four sons, a daughter, grandchildren and many well-wishers.
According to Hridoye Ekattor, edited by writer and researcher Zahurul Qayyum, Fulmati, also known as Fulmati Rani, was born in Monoharpur village of Jamalpur Union in Sadullapur.
During the Liberation War, Pakistani forces and their collaborators abducted and tortured her. The book also recounts an incident in which her husband was held at gunpoint while she was subjected to torture in front of him.
Fulmati was officially recognised as a war heroine and freedom fighter in March 2016, 45 years after Bangladesh’s independence. A four-room “Bir Nibas” was built for her in 2017.
After her husband, Kushiram Sarker Fasia, died in 1988, she raised five sons and two daughters through years of hardship. Despite financial difficulties, she remained self-reliant and did not seek help from others, according to the report.