Gazi Nazrul sent to 4-day remand, 1st wife 1

A Dhaka court on Monday placed Satkhira-4 MP Gazi Nazrul Islam on a four-day remand and his first wife, Maksuda Islam, on a one-day remand in a case alleging abetment to suicide following the death of 19-year-old Mariam Khatun.

The court’s remand order came after police produced Nazrul and Maksuda before Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Ehsanul Islam and sought seven days’ remand for each.

Sub-Inspector Shamsuzzoha Sarker, investigating officer of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station, made the remand prayer. Dhaka Metropolitan Public Prosecutor Omar Faruk Faruqi argued in favour of the application, while defence lawyers, including Mahbubur Rahman, opposed the remand and sought bail.

After hearing both sides, the magistrate granted four days’ remand for Nazrul and one day for Maksuda.

Police brought the two accused to the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court at around 2:22pm and kept them in the court lock-up before the hearing.

The case was filed after police recovered Mariam’s hanging body from Flat No 203 on the third floor of Building No 5 of the National Parliament Members’ Residential Complex, known as NAM Bhaban, opposite the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, at around 7pm on Sunday.

Mariam’s father, SM Masum Billah, filed the case with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station against Nazrul, Maksuda and Mariam’s maternal uncle Md Obaidur Rahman, accusing them of abetting her suicide.

The case was filed under Section 306 of the Penal Code, which deals with abetment of suicide.

According to the complaint, Mariam married Nazrul under Islamic law in June and subsequently lived at NAM Bhaban with the lawmaker and his first wife, Maksuda.

The case statement alleges that Nazrul and Maksuda subjected Mariam to physical and mental torture over various issues after the marriage.

It further says Mariam informed her family about the alleged abuse by telephone on several occasions.

The complaint also alleges that the marriage took place following the direct instigation of Obaidur Rahman, who has also been named as an accused.

According to the statement, at around 5:30pm on Sunday, Nazrul telephoned Mariam’s father and asked him to come to the residence immediately. When he arrived, several people were already at the flat.

He was informed that Mariam was hanging from a ceiling fan with a scarf around her neck. With the assistance of police, family members entered the room and recovered her body.

A suicide note allegedly written by Mariam was also found on the bed, according to the case statement.

Her father alleged that she took her own life after being unable to bear the physical and mental torture allegedly inflicted on her and following the alleged instigation of the accused.

The allegations have yet to be established in court.
The latest case follows an earlier criminal case involving Obaidur Rahman, Mariam’s maternal uncle and Nazrul’s former driver.

On 21 July, Obaidur filed a case with Pallabi Police Station alleging that Nazrul and four others assaulted him and attempted to kill him by strangulation after he objected to the lawmaker’s alleged relationship with Mariam and amid suspicions that he had leaked a video.

Nazrul secured eight weeks’ bail from the High Court in that case on 10 August and submitted his bail bond to a Dhaka court on Sunday, shortly before Mariam’s body was recovered.

Obaidur, who was the complainant in that case, has now been named as an accused in the case concerning Mariam’s death.

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death and the allegations contained in the complaint.

Nazrul was expelled from Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami on 22 July following an organisational inquiry into allegations of moral misconduct.

The party said its Central Executive Council had found evidence supporting the allegations and expelled him under Article 62 of its constitution. Jamaat also informed the Election Commission and the Speaker’s office of the decision.

The Election Commission had said at the time that expulsion from a political party did not automatically terminate an MP’s parliamentary membership and that the constitutional provisions governing a member’s seat would apply.

The latest arrest and remand have now placed the sitting lawmaker at the centre of a criminal investigation, with police examining the circumstances surrounding Mariam’s death and the allegations raised by her family.