In the face of hassles of village arbitration and fatwa (religious edict), a teenage girl committed suicide in Gondhobpur village in Madhobpur upazila of Habiganj on Sunday after being raped by a local man.
On March 11, Babul Mia, son of Sofol Mia, allegedly raped Taslima. Hearing her scream, locals went to the spot but Babul managed to flee the place.
Local leaders requested the father of the victim to refrain from filing any case and assured him of resolving the matter.
An arbitration led by Nurul Islam decided to give the victim’s family Tk5,000 and asked Babul to apologise.
On Sunday around 10pm, Taslima locked herself in a room and committed suicide by hanging herself.
Taslima's father said: “The matbars forcefully held the salish. Everyone was teasing my daughter. Now the culprits are threatening me with a false case. I want justice.”
He also said the three matbars – Nurul Islam, Miab Ali and Sundar Ali – allegedly ran the salish in exchange for money and they had been spreading rumours that Taslima was mentally ill, which “led her to commit suicide.”
Madhobpur police station OC Amal Kumar Dhar filed a case, accusing six people including Nurul Islam in this regard.
