‘Second wife’ sues Mamunul for rape

Controversial Hefajat leader Mamunul Haque was sued for rape yesterday by a woman, who he claimed was his second wife.

The 27-year-old woman filed the case with Narayanganj's Sonargaon Police Station under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act.

In the case statement, she alleged Mamunul raped her many times over the past two years after promising that he would marry her, said Jayedul Alam, superintendent of police in the district.

Mamunul was the joint secretary general of the recently dissolved committee of Hefajat-e-Islam, an Islamist organisation.

Locals found him along with the woman at a resort in Sonargaon on April 3. Although Mamunul claimed she was his second wife, the complainant did not mention so in the case statement.

According to the case documents, the woman got acquainted with Mamunul in 2005 as he was a close friend of her former husband.

The woman said she and her former husband were leading a happy married life before they met the accused.

Mamunul used to visit the couple's house frequently and played different tricks to make their marital life toxic, she claimed in the case statement, adding that at one stage, on Mamunul's "evil" advice, the couple got divorced on August 10, 2018.

After the divorce, the Hefajat leader allegedly tricked her into coming to Dhaka.

"He then started having a physical relationship with me after alluring me with promises of marriage," the woman said in the statement.

Over the last two years, Mamunul took her to different hotels and resorts in Dhaka and adjacent areas, the case statement said.

"As I talked about marriage, he would waste time by giving false assurances," the woman added.

On April 3, Mamunul took her to Sonargaon resort and allegedly raped her there again, she mentioned in the case statement adding that locals detained them at the resort while followers of Mamunul attacked the establishment and took them away.

After the incident, Mamunul kept her confined in the house of an acquaintance and did not allow her to contact her parents and children, she alleged.

"Later, I secretly informed my eldest son about my condition and asked him to take legal steps to rescue me from captivity."

In the case statement, the woman mentioned that her son is 17 and she is 27.

When the Detective Branch of police rescued her from a house in Dhaka's Mohammadpur area on April 27, she came to know that her father had already filed a general diary with Kalabagan Police Station in the capital to rescue her.

The case statement added that she faced threats from the followers of Mamunul. She also consulted with her family members. That is why the filing of the case got delayed.

While talking to the media yesterday in Narayanganj, the woman said Mamunul had been deceiving her for a long time.

She demanded justice.

"I've got a new life. My last words are I want justice. He [Mamunul] fooled me by taking advantage of my simplicity. I demand justice from the state," she said.

After the case was filed, Sonargaon police took her to Narayanganj District Civil Surgeon's Office for medical examinations. From there, she was taken to Narayanganj General Hospital.

Talking to this newspaper, the Narayanganj SP said that they would seek Mamunul's remand in court tomorrow to interrogate him in this case.

Police arrested Mamunul on April 18 from Jamia Rahmania Arabia Madrasa in Dhaka's Mohammadpur.

On April 19, a Dhaka court placed him on seven-day remand in a vandalism case filed with Mohammadpur Police Station last year.

After the expiry of the remand period, he was put on seven-day remand in two cases over Hefajat's mayhem in the capital in May 2013 and March this year, filed with Motijheel and Paltan police stations respectively.

HEFAJAT MEN ARRESTED

Police yesterday arrested a top Hefajat leader, Mufti Maulana Masood, in Sylhet's Zakiganj.

Masood was the general secretary of the dissolved committee of Zakiganj Upazila Hefajat-e-Islam, officials said. He was also the vice principal of Shahbagh Jamia Madania Qasimul Ulum Madrasa and the leader of Jamiat-e-Ulama Islam.

Zakiganj Police Station Office-in-Charge Abul Quasem said Masood was arrested in connection with a case filed on April 20 with the police station.

On April 19, despite government imposed Covid-19 restrictions, a procession was brought out from Maizgram Jame Mosque in Barhal union of Zakiganj demanding release of the arrested Hefajat leaders and activists.

The next day, police filed a case against 30 to 35 leaders and activists of BNP, Jamaat, Shibir and Hefajat.

OC Quasem said, "Mufti Masood was not named as an accused in the case, but we've found his involvement [in the incident] during the investigation."

So far, seven leaders, including Masood, have been arrested in the case.

Meanwhile, police arrested five more people in the last two days from different parts of Brahmanbaria in connection with violence and arson attacks by Hefajat activists and supporters in the district last month.

With the latest development, the total number of arrestees over the violence now stands at 394.

Md Roish Uddin, additional superintendent of police in Brahmanbaria, told The Daily Star that 56 cases were lodged with different police stations in the district over the violence.

Some 414 people have been named as accused in the cases. Besides, the cases have more than 39,000 unnamed accused.