Domestic help torture: Court fixes Nov 6 for verdict on case against cricketer Shahadat, his wife

Justice Tanzila Islam of Dhaka Women and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal-5 set the date after hearing closing arguments, Public Prosecutor Ali Asgar Swapan told the Dhaka Tribune. The couple could face up to 14 years in jail if the charges against them are proven. Mirpur police station OC (investigation) Md Shafiqur Rahman, who is also the investigation officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet against the couple on December 29 last year. Earlier, Shahadat secured ad-interim bail from the High Court on December 8 citing health issues, while Jahan was granted bail on December 1 as she has a nursing baby. According to the case, a journalist named Khandkar Mozammel Haque found the 11-year-old child, who used to work as a house help at Shahadat’s residence, lying injured on the street in a Pallabi neighbourhood in the capital on September 6. The victim told Haque how Shahadat and Jahan beat her mercilessly and, for not being able to endure the torture anymore, she fled their residence. Mozammel took her to police and filed a case against the couple with Mirpur Model police station under Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, 2000 the next day.