Jatiya Party MP Salahuddin Ahmed Mukti, who married off his underage daughter after declaring his own upazila child marriage free, also lied about the age of his two daughters, reveals a Dhaka Tribune investigation.
MP Mukti addressed the media after allegations surfaced that he had married off his younger daughter Afsana Mim Priyanti before she reached the legal age for marriage.
If information given by the MP is to be believed, then it would appear that his younger daughter is eight months older than her elder sister.
Mukti claimed that Priyanti was born on January 1, 1998, and produced a birth certificate as proof.
Also Read- Celebrating the wrong kind of girl power
But two days before Priyanti’s marriage, Mukti told reporters that she did not have a birth certificate. Marriage registrar Nurul Amin seconded the statement.
Things looked murky after Mukti produced Priyanti’s birth certificate, dated July 8, 2014, and signed by the then municipality mayor Md Abdul Hye Akondo.
Mukti claimed his elder daughter Maksura Mim Payel was 20 years and six months old, but he could not produce any document to substantiate that claim.
Payel took the Secondary School Certificate examinations in 2014. Her result sheet, seen by the Dhaka Tribune, mentions August 25, 1998 as her date of birth – making her younger than Priyanti.
Also Read- When lawmaker breaks the law
Payel was married off to an Anti-Corruption Commission official last year while Priyanti tied the knot with a police sub-inspector on February 17.
Opposition Leader Raushon Ershad, local Upazila Nirbahi Officer Julkar Nayon, Officer-in-Charge of Ghatail police station Kamal Hossain, among others, attended the ceremony.
Newspapers were quick to cover the lavish celebration, thrusting the child marriage into limelight.
Sources say Payel is currently aged around eighteen-and-a-half years, while Priyanti completed seventh grade from Raghunathpur Dakhil Madrasa last year.
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
