Bail, repeatedly denied by the lower courts to Jannati Hossain, remains uncertain after a High Court bench said it was embarrassed to hear the matter.
Rumeen Farhana, Jannati’s lawyer in the High Court, contends that her client, who has been incarcerated for five months and remanded for nine days, is eligible for bail.
She told the Dhaka Tribune: “Last Sunday we moved for bail with the High Court for the first time. But the bench comprised of Justices Borhanuddin and Abdur Rob felt embarrassed to hear the matter.”
“We have not decided what our next move will be,” she added.
Jannati was taken into custody in an accident case, a bailable offence, filed by police after her involvement in a car crash that resulted in a fatality.
Eleven days later, despite police eyewitness accounts that described the fatal crash as an accident, the victim’s family filed a murder case against her.
The ordeal began in the early hours of July 11, when Jannati Hossain, 23, was driving her 27-year-old friend, Mostamsir Ashraf, son of former district court judge and current Inspector General of Registration (IGR) Khan Mohammad Abdul Mannan, from Uttara to Dhanmondi.
After descending from Mohakhali flyover, the car, which reportedly suffered a brake failure, ran into the back of a police van parked on the roadside opposite Shaheen School and College.
The left side of the car sustained a devastating impact and Mostamsir, who was sitting in the passenger seat beside Jannati, was severely injured and later died in hospital.
Jannati and three law enforcers who were inside the van were also injured in the accident.
Later that day Tejgaon police station Sub-Inspector Sarder Nizamul Haque, who witnessed the incident, filed an accident case against Jannati for reckless driving and hitting the police van.
Eleven days after the incident, Mostamsir’s uncle filed a murder case against Jannati, her husband, and her brothers with a Dhaka court, reportedly after having failed to convince local police to accept a murder case.
Mizan Mollah, Jannati’s lawyer in trial court, earlier told the Dhaka Tribune that she was being targeted because Mostamsir was the son of a very powerful man.
“I have been working as a lawyer for 30 years and I can say that this is plain and simple case of an accident. Reckless driving is a bailable offence and Jannati has been denied her rights for the past four months. The police are first-hand witnesses to the accident and they have said in their report that it was an accident. The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority report stated that the car suffered a mechanical failure,” he said.
“Whenever we tried to hold a hearing in the accident case, we were told the investigation was ongoing and that Jannati would be taken into remand for further questioning,” he said.
