Detective Branch (DB) police on Thursday sought another seven-day remand of expelled Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Gazi Nazrul Islam in a case filed over the alleged abetment of his second wife Mariam’s death.
After Nazrul completed his four-day remand, DB Inspector Mohammad Salauddin, the investigation officer in the case, produced him before the court and sought another seven days of remand for questioning.
The hearing will be held before Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Ripon Hossain, said SI Rafiqul Islam of the prosecution department.
Nazrul has been kept in the lockup of the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court and will be brought before the court during the hearing, said SI Morshed Alam, officer-in-charge of the lockup.
Case details
Police recovered the hanging body of Mariam, Nazrul’s second wife, from a flat at NAM Bhaban opposite the Parliament building on Sunday evening. That night, police took Nazrul and his first wife, Maksuda Islam, into custody.
Mariam’s father, SM Masum Billah, filed a case that night accusing Nazrul, Maksuda and Mariam’s uncle Obaidur Rahman of abetting her suicide.
The following day, on an application by Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station SI Md Shamsujjoha Sarkar, the court granted Nazrul four days’ remand and Maksuda one day. The investigation was later handed over to the DB.
Maksuda was sent to jail on Tuesday after completing her remand. Obaidur Rahman was also sent to jail on Wednesday after his arrest.
According to the case statement, Masum Billah alleged that his elder daughter Mariam, 19, married Nazrul in June under the “direct instigation” of her maternal uncle Obaidur Rahman.
Mariam lived with Nazrul and Maksuda at Flat 203 of NAM Bhaban No 5, opposite the Parliament building.
The case statement says Mariam had told her family that Nazrul and Maksuda subjected her to physical and mental abuse over various issues after the marriage.
At around 5:30pm on Sunday, Nazrul called Masum Billah and asked him to come home quickly. After arriving, he found Mariam hanging by the neck.
Masum Billah said he found a “suicide note” written by his daughter on her bed.
The case statement quotes several passages from the note, including one in which Mariam wrote about her relationship with Nazrul, her feelings of betrayal and her belief that she had lost a battle she entered with trust.
Another passage referred to Nazrul being married to another woman and said she had made someone else’s husband the man of her choice.
A further passage said: “Losing someone is more honorable than having half of someone. Because love is never something to be shared... love is either complete or incomplete.”
The case statement says Mariam may have died by suicide between 3pm and 5:30pm on Sunday.
Video controversy
On July 20, a video showing intimate moments between Mariam and Nazrul at a hotel in Moghbazar, Dhaka, was circulated on Facebook.
Jamaat activists initially claimed that the video had been created using artificial intelligence (AI).
Nazrul later acknowledged in a Facebook post that the young woman was his second wife.
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami said an organisational investigation found evidence of his “moral misconduct” and decided to expel him on July 22.
The party later informed the Speaker and the Election Commission of the decision through letters.