Second wife of MP Gazi Nazrul found hanging in a NAM flat
Collected Photo
The body of Mosammat Mariam Khatun, 19, the second wife of expelled Jamaat-e-Islami MP G M Nazrul Islam, was found hanging in a flat at the NAM Bhaban under the jurisdiction of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station in the capital on Sunday evening.
Around 6:30pm, residents of a neighbouring flat spotted her body in a flat on the third floor of Building No. 5 of NAM Bhaban. Members of law enforcement agencies arrived at the scene after being informed.
Several MPs from Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party (NCP) confirmed the matter to Agamir Somoy. They said they suspected that she had died by suicide.
However, police and residents of other flats in NAM Bhaban described the incident as mysterious.
Ibn-e-Mizan, deputy commissioner of the Tejgaon Division, told Agamir Somoy that the CID Crime Scene Unit was working at the scene. Mariam’s body was hanging inside the room, which had been locked from the inside.
He said the cause of death could not immediately be confirmed. Law enforcement agencies were investigating how the incident occurred, he added.
Gazi Nazrul Islam, MP for the Satkhira-4 constituency, came into the spotlight last July after a video showing a “private moment” was circulated on social media. He was later expelled from Jamaat-e-Islami over allegations of moral misconduct. Gazi Nazrul had been living in the NAM Bhaban flat with Mariam since several days after the incident.
Meanwhile, after securing bail from the High Court in an attempted murder case filed with Pallabi Police Station, MP Gazi Nazrul submitted his bail bond at a Dhaka court on Sunday. He appeared in person before the court of Dhaka Additional Metropolitan Magistrate Awlad Hossain Mohammad Zunaid and submitted the bail bond.
On July 21, Gazi Nazrul’s personal driver Obaidur Rahman filed a case with Pallabi Police Station, alleging that he had been assaulted and an attempt had been made to strangle him to death over his opposition to an alleged illicit relationship and suspicion that he had leaked a video. Gazi Nazrul Islam was granted eight weeks’ bail by the High Court in the case on August 10.
According to the case statement, complainant Obaidur Rahman lived at his sister’s home in the “Rose Garden Tower” area of Kalshi in Pallabi. He worked as Gazi Nazrul Islam’s personal driver. Nazrul Islam used to visit the residence through a family connection. At one point, an alleged illicit relationship developed between Nazrul Islam and Obaidur’s niece. After learning about the matter, Obaidur informed his family and asked Nazrul Islam to refrain from the relationship.
The case statement says Nazrul Islam became angry and threatened to kill him. Recently, a group in Moghbazar allegedly obtained some “objectionable videos” of Nazrul Islam and his niece and began blackmailing him. Nazrul Islam allegedly suspected that Obaidur had secretly recorded the videos and handed them over to the media and the group. Amid the dispute, the other accused allegedly attacked Obaidur on July 14 on the instructions of Nazrul Islam.
According to the case statement, at around 11am that day, accused Aminur Rahman called Obaidur into the drawing room on the pretext of something. There, the other accused allegedly began beating him indiscriminately with sticks. At one point, Aminur allegedly threw him to the floor and attempted to strangle him to death.
Hearing his screams, his mother Tahmina and younger sister Mim rushed in and started shouting, prompting the attackers to flee. Obaidur was taken to Kurmitola Hospital in an injured condition. The case statement further alleges that the accused later continued to threaten to kill him wherever they found him.
