Tanore Whipping of Housewife
2 out of 7 accused held
Police yesterday arrested two of the seven accused in the case for whipping a housewife who succumbed to her injuries at Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital on December 14.
The arrestees are Sajjad Hossain, 45, and Meherjan Bibi, 40, of Kochua village under Tanore upazila. They were produced in the court that sent them to jail.
The victim, Sufia Begum, 45, wife of Omar Ali Pramanik, fell victim to fatwa (religious edict) and was whipped 40 times at the village a month ago over allegation of an illicit affair with her stepson.
Sufia fell sick following the incident and was under treatment of a village doctor. As her condition deteriorated, she was admitted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital where she died on Tuesday.
Taimur Rahman , brother of the victim, filed a case with Tanore Police Station on Saturday, alleging that she succumbed to her injuries.
He accused seven people, including village leader Nawsher Ali Mollah and Kochua mosque Imam Afsar Ali, of killing his sister.
Police said they have started investigation into the case and are looking for the remaining five accused.
ASP Tawhidul Arif yesterday visited the village and talked to the villagers. He ordered proper investigation into the case.
Mahtab Chowdhury, an officer of Rajshahi based NGO Association for Community Development, also visited the village.
At an arbitration on November 12, the village leaders brought allegations of illicit relations between Sufia and her stepson Abdul Hannan, 36, and awarded 40 lashes to each of them.
Imam Afsar Ali and Nawsher Ali Mollah admitted to awarding Sufia with 40 lashes following an advice of madrasa teacher Ruhul Amin.
“I have no knowledge of giving a fatwa. So, I requested Ruhul Amin and he advised to give 40 lashes to both Sufia and Hannan”.
Contacted, Ruhul Amin, a teacher of Malopara Madrassa, said he did not give any such advice to anyone. “A fatwa must be issued in written. I did not issue any such fatwa”.
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