The Dhaka Tribune secured an exclusive interview with a woman who has been identified as the ex-wife of Nayeem Ashraf, one of the alleged rapists in the notorious Banani rape case.
The woman's identity and her relation to Nayeem Ashraf has been authenticated but will not be published for her security and privacy.
She told the Dhaka Tribune that Nayeem had been a fraud throughout his life.
The woman, who prefers not to be named, said Nayeem’s real name is Abdul Halim.
“I met him at a family programme. I was studying for my HSC exams back then. He said he was a broadcast manager at Ekushey Television.
“I was a fool, I fell in love with him, we ran away and got married. He had told me his family owned vast estates in his village in Sirajganj.”
When the newlywed bride accompanied Halim, alias Nayeem, to Gandail union in Kazipara upazila in Sirajganj, she found his words to be utter lies.
Also Read- Who is Nayeem Ashraf?
Halim’s father was a humble farmer, his mother a day labour, and their possessions a small hut – very little to call their own.
“I was shocked by my surroundings. It was nothing like what I had expected. But I was blinded, and hoped that he could turn things around. After all, he was a BSc graduate from Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology,” she said.
She found his educational qualifications to be falsified. She said one of her aunts went to AUST and inquired about Halim. She found he was not a graduate. He never went to Ahsanulalh. He only had a diploma to his name.
“Whenever I tried to talk to him, he would respond in the most foul and abusive language imaginable. My skin crawled at his loathsome words.”
Halim’s uncle Moazzem Hossain said: “We do not know what he got the diploma in, or where he got it from. But he never went to AUST.”
The girl’s family convinced her to divorce Nayeem after two years. In 2011, the divorce was finalised.
By that time, Halim lost his job at Ekushey Television. He was fired for sexually harassing his colleagues.
Thursday, March 20, 2025
