MP Gazi Nazrul denied bail despite settlement
Photo: Collected
A Dhaka court has denied bail to Satkhira-4 MP Gazi Nazrul Islam in a case over the alleged abetment of the suicide of his 19-year-old second wife, Mariam Akter, notwithstanding a settlement between the complainant and the accused, while granting bail to his first wife, Maksuda Islam.
Presiding over Wednesday's hearing in Dhaka, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Sefatullah heard the complainant, Mariam's father, SM Masum Billah, who appeared in person and submitted an affidavit. He stated that he had lodged the case against Gazi Nazrul, Maksuda Islam and Obaidur Rahman amid grief and immediate suspicion. However, after subsequently making inquiries and weighing the circumstances of the death, he told the court he had become convinced that Mariam had not taken her own life owing to any provocation or conduct on the part of Nazrul or his first wife. Furthermore, the settlement document stated that the complainant's family had no objection to bail and that both sides would maintain cordial relations and cooperate impartially with the judicial process.
Following the hearing, the court granted Maksuda bail against a Tk 5,000 bond, but rejected Gazi Nazrul's petition, leaving him in custody. According to the case details, Mariam's body was recovered from a flat in the National Parliament complex area on September 20, with police reportedly finding the door locked from the inside and a suicide note in the room. Moreover, Nazrul was questioned on two separate remand orders totalling eight days before being sent to jail on September 28.
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Meanwhile, during the investigation, police presented allegations of physical and psychological abuse at the flat, and these remain part of the ongoing legal proceedings. Consequently, although the complainant has withdrawn his objection to bail, the court's refusal indicates that the case will continue to be assessed on the evidence gathered by investigators rather than on the settlement alone.
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