Army major accused of torturing wife for dowry

Teachers and students of Dhaka University are up in arms, demanding punishment for an army officer accused of beating his wife for dowry.

The victim, Nusrat Jahan Tushti, is a student at the university.

She was undergoing treatment at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital’s One-Stop Crisis Centre when the demonstration was underway on Wednesday.

MBA first-semester student Tushti was brought to the hospital from her in-law’s house in Tangail’s Kalihati in critical condition on Monday night.

“She was subjected to various kinds of physical violence. Such savage torture on a university student cannot be accepted,” DU Vice Chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique said after visiting Tushti at the hospital on Tuesday night.

The demonstrators gave a memorandum to the VC after forming a human-chain and taking out a march on Wednesday in protest against the family violence.

Tushti’s father Nurul Islam, a retired banker, alleged he, his wife Shahnaz Akter and son Muyeed Hasan had also been assaulted when they went to bring Tushti back on Monday.

Tushti’s husband, Nazir Uddin, is a major in Bangladesh army.

He is a platoon commander at the Bangladesh Military Academy in Chittagong’s Bhatiari.

“My daughter had called up, saying they would kill her. She wanted us to take her away from there,” Nurul said.

Nazir and his father Idris Ali, a retired army officer, assaulted Tushti several times in front of them, Nurul alleged.

“We too were injured when we tried to stop them,” he said, showing injury marks on his hand.

Kalihati police rescued Tushti on Monday evening but did not register any case, her brother Muyeed said.

They were preparing to file a case, he added.

Tushti married Nazir in 2013 and has a 13-month-old child with him.

Nurul said Nazir had been demanding dowry since the marriage. He said he had already given Nazir ‘a huge sum’.

“His demand increased after he was promoted to major. He tortured my daughter, demanding Tk 50 million and a flat in Dhaka.

“My daughter endured the sufferings for the sake of her son,” he said.