Sherpur pregnant woman tied to tree, tortured; 1 held

Police have arrested one of the accused in a case filed over the torture of a pregnant housewife in Nokla upazila of Sherpur.

The accused—Nasima Akhter, 39—was arrested on Wednesday morning. She is the older sister of Lucky Akhter, one of the main accused by the victim.

The Nokla police station accepted the complaint and filed the case by the bailiff—the 22-year-old victim—on charges of illegal confinement, beating, miscarriage, and molestation with the intention to commit murder, on Tuesday.

The accused are: the victim’s brothers-in-law- Abu Saleh, 52, Nesar Uddin, 48, and Salimullaah, 44; sisters-in-law- Lucky Akhter, 34, and Nasima Akhter, 39; Municipal Councillor Rupali Begum (35), Rupali's husband Amirul Islam, 45; the victim's neighbor Tafazzal Hossain, 44, Tafazzal's son Ismail Islam, 20; along with three or four unnamed accused.

Meanwhile, a video of the torture that occurred a month ago—in which the victim is tied up to a tree and beaten—has gone viral on social media.

Therefore, Additional Superintendent of Sherpur Police (Administration) Mohammad Billal Hossain, Additional Superintendent of Police (Sadar Circle) Aminul Islam, and Nokla Upazila Nirbahi Officer Jahidur Rahman, along with other senior officials, inspected the crime scene.

Meanwhile, a three-member police committee—headed by Additional Superintendent of Sherpur Police (Sadar Circle) Aminul Islam—was formed to investigate the matter and submit a probe report over the incident.

Commenting on the matter, Superintendent of Sherpur police told Dhaka Tribune: “We became aware of the incident on Tuesday, after the video went viral. A case has been filed, accusing nine people over the incident.

“We have already arrested an accused named Nasima Akhter, while further attempts are being made to arrest the rest. However, we are required to follow the official process regarding the arrest of one of the accused as he was a member of the army,” the police official added.

On May 10, the three-month's-pregnant housewife was tied up to a eucalyptus tree and almost beaten to death—by the accused—in Kaida village of Nokla municipality in Sherpur. Lucky Akhter, one of the main accused, recorded a video of the abuse.

She suffered from an untimely miscarriage because of the beatings she received and was admitted in hospital for 14 days. Her husband, Shafiullah, filed a complaint with the court over the incident on June 3.

When the video of the abuse leaked on Monday night, there was great uproar among the locals, forcing the district police officials to investigate the matter.