MP Gazi Nazrul sent to jail after remand

A court has ordered Member of Parliament for Satkhira-4 constituency Gazi Nazrul Islam to be sent to jail in a case filed over abetting the suicide of his second wife, Mariam Khatun. The order was given after he was produced in court on Monday, September 28, following a total of eight days of remand in two rounds, with the court rejecting his bail petition.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Ehsanul Islam's court gave the order. Investigating officer of the case, Inspector Mohammad Salauddin of the Detective Branch's (DB) Tejgaon zonal team, applied to keep Gazi Nazrul in jail until the investigation is completed. On the other hand, lawyer for the accused, Mahbubul Islam, applied for his bail. After hearing both sides, the court rejected the bail petition and ordered him sent to jail.

Earlier, on the evening of September 20, Mariam's hanging body was recovered from a flat in the Nyam building beside the National Parliament building. The next day, Mariam's father, S M Masum Billah, filed a case with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station against Gazi Nazrul Islam, his first wife Makchuda Islam and Mariam's uncle and driver Obaidur Rahman on charges of abetting suicide. The case was filed under Section 306 of the Penal Code.

Following the case, on September 21, the court granted permission to take Gazi Nazrul on a four-day remand. After the first round of remand ended, he was produced in court on September 24, when a second round of four more days of remand was granted. After the second round of remand ended, he was sent to jail on Monday.

Earlier, on September 22, Gazi Nazrul's first wife, Makchuda Begum, was sent to jail after a one-day remand. Later, the court also ordered another accused in the case, Obaidur Rahman, to be sent to jail.

Mariam's family alleged that since the marriage, Gazi Nazrul and his first wife subjected her to physical and mental torture. However, Gazi Nazrul denied these allegations. On September 21, he told journalists in court that he was not at home at the time of the incident and that Mariam herself had committed suicide.