Two arrested in Shariatpur for torturing woman over theft accusation

Two people have been arrested in the case of torturing a young woman by tying her to a tree in Vedarganj, Shariatpur, on allegations of theft. The incident involved beating her for about three hours, putting a garland of shoes around her neck and cutting her hair.

The victim's mother, Fatema Begum, filed a case with Sakhipur Police Station naming six individuals and four to five unidentified persons. After the case was filed, police arrested Afsana Sardar and Amir on Friday night.

The incident took place in the Chhayalkandi area of Sakhipur Union in Vedarganj upazila on Tuesday, August 4. The matter came to light when several videos of the torture surfaced on social media on Friday.

The videos showed the young woman tied to a tree and being beaten. At one point, a garland of shoes was placed around her neck and some of her hair was cut off.

The victim's family alleged that local grocery shop owner Monir Hossain Molla frequently harassed the young woman. On the day of the incident, he made indecent proposals to her, and when she protested and said she would inform her family, she was falsely accused of theft.

The family claimed that the woman and her 12-year-old sister and 8-year-old brother were first locked in a canteen of a nearby educational institution and then taken to a room of their landlord's house, where the woman and her sister were tied to a tree and tortured.

The victim said she was falsely accused of theft because she protested. She was then tied to a tree, beaten, garlanded with shoes and had her hair cut.

The victim's mother alleged that after the torture, they were forced to leave the area due to threats from the accused's relatives.

However, the accused Monir Hossain Molla denied the allegations, claiming the landlord had tortured the woman and he only tied her to a tree on their instruction.

The landlord's husband also denied the allegations against his wife but later said the incident was wrong, and that his wife and others had acted on the shopkeeper's instigation.

Sakhipur Police Station OC Mofazzal Hossain said police rescued the woman and her family from the scene after receiving news and arranged for medical treatment. Two people have been arrested after the case was filed, and operations are ongoing to arrest the other accused.