Mita's family alleges police torture
The family members sought intervention of the prime minister and the home minister to stop such harassment.
At a press conference, they said that Mita is in no way involved in the murder and that she had no extra-marital affair with the slain IOJ leader.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. They also alleged that neither their lawyer nor any of them was allowed to meet Mita, now detained at the Kotwali Police Station.
On the other hand, Mita admitted to having a relationship with Maulana Iqbal.
"I didn't have any link to the murder, but I do admit that I have a close relationship with him and we used to meet at a city hotel," she told reporters at the police station yesterday afternoon.
Speaking at the press conference, Mita's mother-in-law Rahena Begum Chowdhury said, "Police picked up Mita on the night of October 18 in the name of interrogation and she was shown arrested under Section 54 two days later. Since then, police have been torturing me, my daughter, my grandchildren and other relatives. They have even ransacked our furniture in the name of search."
"In last few days, the police led by the assistant commissioner of Kotwali Zone raided my house 33 times and the house of my relatives 19 times," she added.
Mita's 15-year-old son Amit and 13-year-old daughter Anannya burst into tears at the press conference. "Our mother can never be involved in such heinous activities," they said.
Amit said that a police official was pressing him to give false statement about his mother.
Mita's lawyer Mohammad Mohiuddin said, "The family members and I have tried many times to meet Mita at the police station, but police simply denied us access."
Mita's mother Laila Begum was also present at the press conference held at the Chittagong Press Club.
Meanwhile, Iqbal's business partner Abdur Rahim, also a Jamaat-e-Islami leader, who was detained but released later, said there was no business or political motive behind the murder.
At a press conference yesterday, he also expressed his ignorance of the relationship between Iqbal and Mita.