An arrest warrant has been issued for actor and singer Meher Afroz Shaon in a case filed by her stepmother, Nishi Islam.
Dhaka’s Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sanaullah issued the arrest warrant on Tuesday, court sources confirmed on Wednesday.
In the same case, an arrest warrant was also issued against former DB chief Harunor Rashid, they added.
According to reports, on March 13, Nishi Islam filed a case at the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court accusing 12 people of attempted murder and assault.
That day, the court recorded the plaintiff’s statement, issued a summons for the accused to appear in court, and set Tuesday as the date for their appearance, the reports added.
The accused in the case include: Engineer Md Ali, Meher Afroz Shaon, her brother Mahin Afroz Shinjon, Senjuti, Sabbir, former CTTC ADC of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Najmul, Subrata Das, Mainul Hossain, former DB chief Harunor Rashid, Police Inspector Saiful Islam Bhuiyan, Sub-Inspector Shah Alam, and Mokhlesur Rahman Milton.
According to the case documents, on February 21, 2024, Engineer Md Ali married the plaintiff under Islamic law with a mahr of Tk50 lakh, of which Tk50,000 was paid upfront.
He concealed the existence of his previous marriage and lured the plaintiff into marrying him through various deceptions. Later, the plaintiff discovered that Md Ali was already married and had one son and three daughters from his previous marriage, the documents added.
When asked about it, he evaded the topic and finally admitted to his previous marriage and deceptions, it said.
The complaint also states that on February 28, Shaon's brother Shinjon and his brother-in-law Sabbir visited the plaintiff’s residence and threatened her to keep the marriage secret.
On March 4, accused Md Ali asked the plaintiff to come to a residence in Gulshan, citing his illness. There, upon seeing his previous wife, the plaintiff realized the full extent of his deceit. At that point, the other accused forcefully pushed her out of the house, as per the complaint.
The complaint further alleges that the next day, Shaon, ADC Nazmul, and others entered the plaintiff’s home and attempted to force her to sign on a blank sheet of paper, the plaintiff claims.
When she refused, Shaon reportedly physically assaulted her, causing her to lose consciousness. The accused then fled the scene, it added.
Later, on April 24 of that year, DB Inspector Shah Jalal summoned the plaintiff to the DB office, where Shaon and others again physically assaulted her. At that time, DB chief Harun allegedly instructed the OC of Badda police station to file a case against the plaintiff, said the complaint.
She was then arrested in that case, taken on remand, tortured, and falsely implicated as a drug dealer, it added.
