Woman tied up, tortured over land dispute
A woman was tied to a tree and abused verbally and physically by two men at Bharukhali village in the district on Saturday.
Saleha Khatun, 50, had been fighting for her land for a long time with her neighbour Abdar Rahman Gazi, even though there are documents proving that it belongs to Saleha, said her brother, Md Shahadat Hossain.
Abdar and his relatives, due to the dispute, had been spreading obscene rumours about her for quite some time.
Mother of one, Saleha lives alone with her son next to her father's house in the village, he said, adding that her husband does not live there.
Around 3:30pm on Saturday, Saleha returned to her home from visiting a relative in the hospital and found Abdar putting up a boundary fence around her land, said Saleha's son Shariful Islam, 30.
When Saleha opposed, Abdar began physically assaulting her. Realising that there was no one else in her house at that time, Abdar and his brother Mojibur then tied her with a rope and began shouting obscene words at her. They then took off her scarf and tied her to a tree with it and began beating her mercilessly, he added.
Shariful was not home when Saleha was being beaten, but he came back to see his mother tied to a tree, while the two men continued putting up the boundary fence.
“I was too afraid to untie her, thinking they would do something worse if I went to save her,” he said.
After receiving information from witnesses three hours into the incident, police reached the spot and rescued the tortured woman. But by that time, Abdar and Mojibur had left, he added.
Mustafizur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Satkhira Sadar Police Station, said they had rescued and freed Saleha.
Shariful filed a case against five people. Four of them -- Abdar Rahman Gazi, 55, his wife Ayesha Khatun, 42, his son Feroz Hossain, 23, and Mojibur Rahman, 52, have been arrested.
After being produced in court yesterday, all four were sent to jail.
Police said they were looking for the other accused – Abdar's other son, Ujjal Hossain.