Promise of Shahadat’s ‘surrender’ fails to get bail for wife

A court has ordered cricketer Shahadat Hossain’s wife into jail, dismissing her bail petition in a case that accuses the couple of torturing an underage house help.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Yunus Khan also scrapped a police petition seeking Jesmin Jahan’s remand on Sunday.

He granted police three days to grill her at jail gate within next five working days.

She was produced before the court in the afternoon after her arrest at a house at Malibagh in Dhaka early in the morning.

Mirpur Police Station OC Shafiqur Rahman sought five days to grill her in custody, saying he needed to know the whereabouts of the absconding paceman and more detail of the torture of the house help.

Kazi Md Nazibullah Hiru argued for the accused in the hearing.

He pointed his finger at the 9-month-old child of Hossain and said: “We also hate torture of children, but it will be inhumane to deny the baby breast milk.”

He said there was no need of grilling in custody as ‘the victim gave statement to the court and all the information in the case was out in the open’.

“There is nothing left to know in remand. The chargesheet can be submitted now. There is nothing left to investigate,” he said.

“And I say we’ll have Shahadat surrender tomorrow (Monday),” he added.

Bangladesh Mohila Ainjibi Samity’s Fahmida Akter Ringky argued for the plaintiff in the hearing on the remand petition.

Lawyer Syed Nazmul Huda of another human rights organisation stood for the victim.

Journalist Khandkar Mozzamel Haque found the girl at Mirpur and took her to the local police several hours after Hossain filed a complaint on Sep 6 claiming the house help had gone missing.

Haque filed a case against Shahadat and Jesmin as the 11-year-old girl alleged the cricketer and his wife used to torture her.

The couple went into hiding after the case was started.

Shahadat last played for Bangladesh in May against Pakistan. He went off the field on the first day of first Test following a leg injury.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had him treated in Australia and he was undergoing a rehabilitation programme.

The BCB said the reports of torturing a minor were ‘utterly embarrassing’ and banned the paceman from all forms of cricket until the charges are settled.