Woman gets 5 years in jail for abusing domestic aide

The convicted homemaker has also been fined Tk 50,000 by the court

A Dhaka court has sentenced homemaker Parveen Chowdhury to five years of rigorous imprisonment for abusing a teenage house aide in Dhaka's Shewrapara a decade and a half ago.

Dhaka Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Golam Kabir delivered the verdict in the case on Monday.

Tribunal Bench Assistant Rashedul Islam said, “In addition to the jail term, the convict was slapped with a Tk 50,000 fine, and will face four more months of jail if they fail to pay that amount.”

"The accused was present at the tribunal when the verdict was announced. Afterwards, she was sent to prison."

As per the case documents, a 14-year-old girl was working as a domestic aide at Parveen’s home. It says Parveen and her daughter Ismat Jahan Jony used to beat her quite often without any valid reason. She was also abused by hot water being poured on her, being locked up her room, and being prevented from contacting her family.

The case dossier said that the domestic aide was beaten and injured on Sept 15 and Sept 16, 2010 before Parveen threw her out of the house on Oct 23.

Her mother’s neighbour, A Rashid, found her crying in Shewrapara and rescued her in the evening.

The next day Rashid filed a case with the Mirpur Police Station naming Parveen and Jony.

Following an investigation, Sub Inspector Abu Bakar Mia of Mirpur Model Police Station submitted the chargesheet against Parveen. However, Jony was dropped from the case as no evidence regarding the complaint was found against her.

The tribunal heard testimonies of six of 11 witnesses during the trial. Parveen and her daughter Jony testified as well. The court announced the verdict on Thursday after hearing the defendant’s statement and arguments from both sides.