Jaldhaka BNP leader, 6 aides get life for abduction, rape

Police trying to control supporters of Anwarul Kabir who crowded the Nilphamari judge court compound yesterday during delivery of verdict. PHOTO: STAR

The convicts are Jaldhaka upazila BNP president and Jaldhaka Pourasabha chairman Anwarul Kabir Chowdhury and his accomplices Ashraful, Jamat Ali, Rashidul, Hafizul, Bahadur and Selim for helping Kabir. Of them, Bahadur absconded.

Judge Idris Alam of the Special Tribunal on Prevention of Repression on Women and Children, Nilphamari, pronounced the verdict in a crowded courtroom after examining 17 witnesses at 11 am yesterday. The court also ordered Kabir to pay a fine of Tk 10,000

The prosecution story, in brief, is that Anwarul Kabir Chowdhury and his aides abducted housewife Morsheda Begum and her four-year-old son from Moulavi Bazar village at night on July 31 last year. Morsheda, wife of Jahinur Rahman of Cherenga in Jaldhaka Pourasabha was returning home from his elder sister's house at Uttar Deshibai village in Kathali union, Jaldhaka. The abductors brought Morsheda to Jaldhaka Pourasabha office where Anwarul Kabir Chowdhury raped her till she was rescued by police the next day. After her rescue, Morsheda filed a case against Kabir and six of his accomplices under Women and Children Repression Prevention Act on August 1.

Hearing the verdict, all the accused chanted slogans in the courtroom against Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury for what they said masterminding a 'conspiratorial case.'

After the verdict, agitation mounted among Kabir's supporters who gathered in hundreds near the court since morning. A large contingent of police along with Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) was deployed on the court premises. They dispersed the crowd from there.

In a reaction, victim Morsheda said she was not happy as 'life term to the main accused was not enough in regard to his crime'. But her lawyer Advocate Abdul Latif Sarkar expressed satisfaction over the verdict.

On contact, Kabir's wife Farida Begum she will move to higher court for appeal. She lamented that her husband had become a victim of his rival Jamaat lawmaker Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury.

When contacted, Jaldhaka BNP acting president Omar Faruque said they are planning to quit the party as it gave in to Jamaat conspiracy.

Kabir-led BNP and incumbent lawmaker Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury-led Jamaat were engaged in bloody clashes in Jaldhaka for the last two years for establishing supremacy in the area and for ensuring 4-party Alliance candidature.

Earlier, High Court granted bail to all the accused but the absconder. On expiry of the bail period, they appeared before lower court here and sought bail on October 2, 2005. But refusing bail, the court sent them to jail.