A 26-year-old man has demanded recognition as the son of Abdur Rahman Bodi, a former Awami League lawmaker from Cox’s Bazar-4 [Ukhiya-Teknaf] constituency.
The man, Md Ishak, hails from Kaiukkhali Para village of Cox’s Bazar district’s Teknaf municipality.
In Ishak’s plea to an assistant judge court in Teknaf on Sunday, he demanded DNA tests be conducted in this regard if needed.
Ishak’s lawyer Advocate Md Osman said Ishak's mother Sufiya Khatun claims to be the wife of former MP Bodi. Both the witness and Qazi (marriage officiant), of the reported marriage have passed away.
The court after taking the plea into cognizance has summoned Bodi for a hearing on January 14 in 2021, added Adv Osman.
On April 5 of 1992, Bodi married Sufiya Khatun at a hotel owned by his family called Hotel Niribili. The marriage was officiated by Moulivi Abdus Salam, where the gatekeeper of the hotel Ekhlas Miya was the witness, according to the plea.
When Ishak was a child, he visited Bodi numerous times with his mother Sufiya and Bodi showed affection to him in different ways similar to a father, the plea adds.
Ishak's mother, in order to safeguard Bodi's political career, had not made the claim earlier but as Ishak is grown up now, he feels the need of a father by his side, the plea also says.
Ishak and his mother initially contacted Bodi's sister Shamsun Nahar and tried to mediate the matter.
However, Bodi kept delaying the mediation regarding the matter and now has stopped all communication with Ishak and his mother, the plea further says.
Earlier in September, a Chittagong court framed charges against Abdur Rahman Bodi in a case filed by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) for amassing illegal wealth, according to media reports.