Mother of toddler arrested, sent to jail over loan dispute in Sirajganj

Half of the Tk 50,000 TMSS loan was repaid, with the rest to be adjusted against a security deposit, her husband says

A court in Sirajganj has sent a 25-year-old woman to jail in a case filed by a no-government organisation (NGO) over defaulting on a Tk 50,000 loan, leaving her two-year-old child in the care of his grandmother.

The woman, identified as Jannati Khatun, wife of Abdur Razzaq from a village in Tarash Upazila, was arrested at her home on Thursday afternoon following a warrant issued by a Natore court.

According to the case details, Razzaq previously worked as a field supervisor for the NGO Thengamara Mohila Sabuj Sangha, better known as TMSS, at its Kachikata branch in Natore.

During his employment, he deposited Tk 24,800 as a security bond and concurrently took a loan of Tk 50,000 in his wife’s name.

Razzaq claims that after resigning from the NGO, he had already repaid half of the loan through instalments.

He alleged that he requested the branch manager to adjust the remaining balance against his Tk 24,800 security deposit.

"Instead of adjusting the deposit, the NGO authorities filed a case against my wife. They still have my security deposit," Razzaq told reporters.

Tarash Police chief Habibur Rahman confirmed that Jannati was kept in custody overnight before being produced in court on Friday morning.

"Since there was an active arrest warrant from a Natore court, we had to take her into custody," he said.

The toddler has been placed under the care of their maternal grandmother following the mother's imprisonment, he added.