Nine sent to jail

A local court on Thursday remanded nine people in judicial custody for allegedly abducting a man and forcing him to marry a woman in 2019.

Thakurgaon Senior Judicial Magistrate Courts judge Arifur Rahman sent the nine accused to jail after rejecting their bail pleas in the case, according to the complainant’s lawyer Indranath Ray.

The nine accused are Duosuo Union Parishad chairman Abdus Salam, local journalist Abul Kalam Azad, marriage registrar Abdul Kader, Rita Akter, Babul Hossain, Muslim Uddin, Ansarul, Darastullah Munshi and Sarwal Hossain.

The court also issued an arrest warrant against Md Saju, another accused in the case who’s currently on the run.

According to the complaint, Mizanur Rahman, the victim, was abducted on May 9, 2019, and taken to the Duosuo Union Parishad office.

In the office, chairman Abdus thrashed Mizanur and forced him to marry Rita Akter. Subsequently, Abdul Kader registered their marriage on a Kabinnama (Muslim marriage contract) of Tk 15 lakh, as per the complaint.

Following the marriage, the accused confined Mizanur to the house of Babul Hossain for three days. When police were alerted, Babul fled with his family.

On September 18, 2019, Mizanur moved to the Thakurgaon Court and sought action against seven people.

Advocate Indranath said that the defence lawyer sought bail for the nine accused during the hearing on Thursday, but the court rejected the same.

On his part, chairman Abdus claimed that Mizanur and Rita got married on mutual consent and in the presence of many respected people of the locality.