MP Nazrul’s wife Maksuda sent to jail after remand

A court has sent Ms. Mosa. Maksuda Islam, wife of Mr. Gazi Nazrul Islam, Member of Parliament for Satkhira-4, to jail in a case accusing her of abetting the suicide of his second wife.

After a one day remand, the accused Ms. Maksuda Akter was produced in court yesterday, Tuesday, where Mr. Mohammad Salauddin, Inspector of the Detective Branch’s Tejgaon Zonal Team and investigating officer of the case, asked the court to send her to jail. The Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court of Mr. Ripon Hossain granted the request.

Sub Inspector Mr. Rafiqul Islam of the prosecution department confirmed the matter. The application stated that questioning the accused during remand yielded important information relevant to the case, which will help the investigation. It said keeping the accused in jail custody was necessary for a fair and impartial investigation.

On the evening of September 20, police recovered the body of Mr. Gazi Nazrul’s second wife Mariam, found hanging in a flat at NAM Bhaban, located opposite the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban. Police later took MP Mr. Gazi Nazrul Islam and his first wife Ms. Maksuda into custody that night. That same night, Mariam’s father, Mr. S. M. Masum Billah, filed a case against MP Mr. Gazi Nazrul Islam, his wife Ms. Maksuda Islam and the victim’s uncle Mr. Obaidur Rahman, accusing them of abetting suicide.

The two accused were shown arrested in this case and produced in court from Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station on September 21. After hearing the application for a seven day remand, the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court of Mr. Mohammad Ehsanul Islam ordered four days of remand for Mr. Nazrul Islam and one day for Ms. Maksuda Begum.

According to the case complaint, the plaintiff Mr. S. M. Masum Billah works as a grocer. His elder daughter Mariam, 19, married Mr. Gazi Nazrul Islam, 75, under Islamic law last June. After the marriage, Mariam lived with her husband and his first wife Ms. Mosa. Maksuda at a flat in NAM Bhaban in the Manik Mia Avenue area under Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station. The marriage between Mariam and Mr. Nazrul Islam took place at the direct instigation of her maternal uncle, Mr. Md. Obaidur Rahman, 38. After the marriage, her husband and his co-wife allegedly subjected Mariam to physical and mental abuse over various issues, which she reported to family members by phone from time to time.

The complaint further states that on the afternoon of September 20, around 3:30 PM, Mr. Nazrul Islam called the plaintiff and asked him to come home quickly. When he arrived, he found Mariam hanging from a ceiling fan by her scarf in one of the rooms. The room’s door was locked from inside. Police from Sher-e-Bangla Nagar station then broke the door open, and Mariam was found hanging from the fan by her scarf. Searching the scene, police recovered a handwritten note from Mariam’s bed.

Mariam’s father further alleged in the complaint that his daughter’s marriage to Mr. Nazrul Islam had come about through the direct instigation of her uncle Mr. Obaidur Rahman, and that Mariam later took her own life because of the physical and mental abuse by her husband and his first wife, along with the accused’s instigation.

It may be noted that in July this year, several videos showing “private moments” between Mariam Khatun and Mr. Nazrul Islam spread on social media, sparking widespread discussion and criticism. Following this, on July 22, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami expelled MP Mr. Gazi Nazrul Islam of Satkhira-4 from the party.