Police seek 7-day remand for MP Gazi Nazrul, first wife

Police have sought seven days’ remand for Satkhira-4 MP Gazi Nazrul Islam and his first wife, Maksuda Islam, in a case filed over the alleged abetment of suicide of Nazrul’s second wife, Mariam Khatun.

Investigation officer SI Shamsuddohha Sarker of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station submitted the remand plea before the court on Monday (September 21).

Mariam’s father, SM Masum Billah, filed the case on Sunday night against Nazrul, Maksuda and Mariam’s maternal uncle Obaidur Rahman, alleging that they had driven his daughter to suicide.

According to the case statement, Mariam, 19, married Nazrul under Islamic law in June and subsequently lived with him and his first wife at a flat in NAM Bhaban near Manik Mia Avenue in Dhaka.

The complaint alleges that Nazrul and Maksuda subjected Mariam to physical and mental abuse after the marriage. She allegedly informed her family about the treatment several times over the phone.

On Sunday afternoon, Nazrul called Mariam’s father and asked him to come to the flat. He later arrived with Mariam’s aunt and found a crowd outside. The room was locked from inside, and Mariam was seen hanging from a ceiling fan with a scarf around her neck through a window.

Police later broke open the door with the help of a Public Works Department employee. Investigators recovered a handwritten note from Mariam’s bed mentioning alleged betrayal, emotional distress and relationship problems.

Mariam’s family alleged that Obaidur had encouraged the marriage and that continued abuse and pressure from the accused drove her to suicide. Police prepared an inquest report and sent the body for autopsy.