Woman forced to do squats holding ears

A woman was forced to do squats in front of a huge crowd in Thakurgaon Sadar upazila on Wednesday night.

The woman said she was falsely accused of having an extra-marital relationship with a maternal uncle of her husband.

The victim told The Daily Star yesterday that on Wednesday morning she was home alone as her husband, a mason, went out for work. On the afternoon around 3:30pm, a group of people of her village led by Sadequl, Fazlu, and Jony dragged her to the Dakkhin Dhonipara Government Primary School premises to attend a village arbitration.

The so-called arbiters also brought her uncle-in-law to the school ground, she said.

"At one stage the arbiters started beating us and forced us to do squats holding our ears and beg pardon in public," she said, adding, "Over 500 people surrounding us watched it and clapped."

Police arrested two people including a union parishad member on Thursday night in this connection, after the victim's husband filed a case the same night with Ruhea Police Station accusing 10 people including one Maniram Barman and Rafiqul Islam.

Maniram Barman, 35, is a member of ward-7, and Rafiqul Islam, 41, husband of another member Tahera Begum (ward-7, 8 and 9) of Akhanagar union.

Villagers brought the duo to the school ground for arbitration as they had an extra-marital relationship for a long time, said Maniram Barman, one of the arrestees. "We forced them to do squats holding ears but never beat them," he added.

Officer-in-Charge of Ruhea Police Station Khan Mohammad Shahrier told The Daily Star over the phone that in primary investigation, it was proved through a video clip that the woman was forced to do squats holding her ears in front of four to five hundred people.