Court Correspondent :
Cricketer Shahadat Hossain and his wife Jesmine Jahan Nrittya were acquitted yesterday (Sunday) in the case filed for torturing their 11-year old domestic help Mahfuza Akhter Happy last year.
Judge Tanjina Ismail of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal- 5 of Dhaka passed the order acquitting the couple as the prosecution could not prove the allegations against them. The courtroom was jam packed when the judge pronounced the verdict in presence of the couple.
Mahfuza Akhtar Happy, lodged the allegation of torture against the couple on September 6 last year and the case was filed against them with Mirpur Model Police Station. Happy, a daughter of Arab Ali, hails from Jamalpur district. She was rescued from Pallabi area in the capital on September 6 with injuries in her body. After being tortured, she managed to escape from Shahadat’s house in the morning and got a shelter for the following night.
Magistrate Snigdha Rani Chakraborty of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court of Dhaka recorded a statement of Happy on September 21, under Section 22 of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. Recording her statement, she was sent back to the One-Stop Crisis Centre (OCC) of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where she was having medical treatment.
Police submitted the charge sheet of the case to the court against Shahadat and Nrittya on December 27, 2015. Later, the court framed charges against them.
The court recorded the depositions of seven witnesses, including the complainant and the victim of the case, to deliver the verdict. Of them, Happy, in her statement of August 25 said that Shahadat and his wife Nrittya did not torture her. Meanwhile, on October 27, Shahadat and his wife pleaded not guilty in the case.
The 29-year old cricketer Shahadat, who has played for Bangladesh in 51 ODIs (One-Day International), was suspended from all forms of cricket on September 13 following the allegation and the case was filed with the court.
