Zumratun Nesa Barsha, 24, video-called her father late at night after allegedly being tortured by her husband over dowry demands. She told her parents about the abuse and pleaded for help. When the call suddenly disconnected, her family went to check on her and learned that she had died.
Barsha’s father, Sheikh Monowar Hossain, filed a murder case with Tejgaon police station following the incident. Police said her husband, Nabid Hossain, had been arrested in connection with the case and sent to court.
Speaking to Dhaka Tribune on Thursday afternoon, Tejgaon police station Officer-in-Charge Muniruzzaman said Nabid allegedly beat Barsha repeatedly over dowry demands. Marks of injuries were found on her body, he added.
Muniruzzaman said Barsha’s father filed the case and Nabid was arrested from a hospital before being sent to court. The investigation is ongoing.
The incident took place at a house in Manipuripara in the capital around midnight on Tuesday. Barsha was taken to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared her dead.
Sheikh Monowar Hossain said Barsha and Nabid had married a year earlier after a relationship. He alleged that Nabid was unemployed and repeatedly demanded money from his father-in-law after the marriage. Barsha’s family had given him money several times, he said, but the demands frequently led to quarrels and physical abuse.
He said Barsha was beaten again over money on Tuesday. According to him, someone from her in-laws’ household recorded the incident and sent the footage to her family.
Unable to bear the abuse, Barsha video-called her father around midnight. She was crying and pleading with her family to take her back to their home, saying she feared they would kill her if she remained there, her father said. The call then disconnected.
Her parents set out for the house that night. When they arrived in Manipuripara around 12:30am, they saw an ambulance outside the house.
Barsha’s family later asked her in-laws what had happened and were told that she had died by suicide.