Bangladesh
Minor rape survivor married to 39-year old accused in Khulna jail
In a wedding held inside Khulna District jail a 39-year-old man married a minor girl who was allegedly raped by him two years ago, authorities said on Monday. The girl, Sukh Moni, now 15, was brought to the jail from a safe home for the marriage around 2:30 pm on Sunday with accused Rafiqul Islam Babu by the order of the High Court considering the greater interests of the rape survivor, said Md Fakhruddin, deputy jailor of Khulna Jail.
Also read: Madrasa director rapes 7-yr-old repeatedly in Chuadanga, held
Families of the couple were present during the simple event when marriage registration was done, he said. He said following the directions of the High Court the marriage was registered by district marriage registrar at the jail office. Khulna Jail Superintendent Omar Faruque, Jailor Md Tariqul Islam, Deputy Jailor Md Nur-E-Alam Siddiqui were present during the programme along with other officials and staffers of the jail. “Shukh Moni was brought in jail two days before registering the marriage from Bagerhat safe home. The High Court has approved the marriage and both Shukh Moni’s and Babu’s family have given their consent.” said jail super Omar Faruque. Babu, arrested in the rape case, has been in jail since December 17, 2020 while survivor Shukh Moni, who was 13 at the time of the assault, was sent to a safe home as she was two months pregnant then. At the safe home the girl gave birth to a child who did not survive. Regarding the marriage of the underage girl (child marriage) Advocate Md Mominul Haque, coordinator of Bangladesh Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights Khulna said,” According to section 19 of the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2017, such marriages can be done in a special arrangement with the permission of the court and the consent of both the parents." “The man was caretaker of a house where the girl used to work as a house help. As she was pregnant when the case was filed she was sent to safe home by the court considering an appeal for her safe custody,” he said.
Also read:5-yr-old girl killed after ‘rape’ in Noakhali: Cousin held Section 19 of the Child Marriage Restraint Act provides that in special circumstances, the court can give marriage to children, for protecting the best interests of them, with the consent of their parents. However, there is no provision for having any consent from those children while they are getting married as they are not adults.
Van driver's daughter cracks MBBS test: UZ chairman takes responsibility
Alpana Akter, the daughter of a van driver who aced the MBBS entrance exam at Mymensingh Medical College, will not have to burden her father with funding her education as she chases her dream of becoming a doctor.
Aslam Jewel, chairman of her upazila parishad in Baliadangi, has stepped forward to take the responsibility of putting her through medical school.
Also read: Thakurgaon van driver's daughter cracks MBBS test, but father has no money for fees
The upazila chairman, also general secretary of Baliadangi upazila Jubo League, announced this after visiting Alpana's home on Monday night. He also handed over some initial financial assistance to Alpana’s father Aftabar Rahman.
Aslam Jewel on Tuesday told UNB: “We are proud of Alpana as she has got a chance in the medical college. As a representative of the people, I took responsibility for her study. I will bear all the expenses of her medical college study.”
Alpana, a resident of Dharia Belsara village in Baliadangi upazila, said she wants to pursue her dream without putting any further pressure on her father, who is struggling to make ends meet for the family. "Already, he has done a lot for me and my siblings," she added.
It is true. Aftabar, the father, may be near the end of his tether now, but his is a story of admirable parenthood, for the way he has prioritised education for his three children.
"First, I sold a portion of my farmland to bear the admission expenses of my son, who got a chance to study at Dhaka University. Later, I had to sell the rest of the land to fund his studies. Now, I have nothing but a homestead," he said.
His son Munna is a fourth-year student of Dhaka University's Bangla department.
"I still have to send him Tk 4,000 a month," Aftabur discloses, which is probably more to do with living expenses even as a student in the capital.
The youngest sibling, another daughter, is a student of Class XII.
Also read:Thakurgaon farmers fear crops loss after hailstorm
"Alpana has made a penniless father proud. But now I am helpless, and not in a position to fund her opportunity to pursue medical education at Mymensingh Medical College from my meagre income,"Aftabar laments.
It now falls on society, amid all the increases in per capita income, etc, to step forward and complement the efforts of parents such as Aftabur.
The effort they have expended till now must not go in vain.
JMB man gets 5 yrs imprisonment in Chattogram
A Chattogram tribunal on Tuesday sentenced a member of banned militant outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) to 5 years jail in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The convict was Rakibul Hasan Jony, 22, a resident of Sadarghat area of Chattogram port city and son of Jashim Uddin of Cumilla district.
Also read: 2 suspected JMB militants held in Nilphamari
Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal Judge Abdul Halim handed down the judgment and fined the convict Tk 20,000.
According to the prosecution, a team of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit arrested Rakibul and recovered 10 grenades from his house in Sadarghat area on January 1, 2018.
Besides, two suicide vest, two mobile phone sets, two maps were also recovered from his possession.
Also read:JMB man jailed for 20 years in explosives case
A case was filed against him under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Mamun elected DJAB president, Alamgir GS
Mamunur Rashid of the Daily Observer and Alamgir Hossain of Somoyer Alo were elected president and general secretary respectively of Defence Journalists’ Association of Bangladesh (DJAB) on Tuesday for the next two years.
Mohd Jahangir Alam, Senior Staff Correspondent of UNB, was also elected vice-president of the 13-member executive committee of DJAB.
The new committee was formed at the organisation’s annual general meeting that was held at a city hotel with DJAB’s outgoing president and Daily Ittefaq city editor Abul Khair in the chair, said a press release.
READ: DJAB elects Abul Khair president, Jahangir Alam VP and Alamgir Hossain as GS
Tariqul Islam Masum (Channel i) was made the joint secretary while Jamal Uddin (Bangla Tribune) finance secretary, Ahmed Ullah (the Daily Sun) organising secretary, Ismail Hossain Imu (Ajkaler Khabor), office secretary, Saif Bablu (Dainik Sangbad) publicity and publication secretary, Sajjad Mahmud Khan (Amader Shomoy) training and research secretary and Kamal Hossain Talukdar (bdnews24.com) sports and cultural secretary.
Besides, Masud Karim (Jugantor), Miraj Mizu (ETV) and Ali Asif Shaon (Dhaka Tribune) were elected executive committee members.
Director of Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant Colonel Abdullah Ibn Zayed and senior officials of the Armed Forces and ISPR were present on the occasion.
Centre for Genocide Studies inks tripartite MoU with Taylor's University, Bangladesh High Commission, Kuala Lumpur
Centre for Genocide Studies, University of Dhaka has signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding with Taylor's University, Malaysia and Bangladesh High Commission, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The virtual MoU signing ceremony was held on Monday as a part of the Golden Jubilee of the diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and Malaysia.
The goal behind this is to strengthen, enrich and put an official stamp on an ongoing partnership between these two countries.
53 members of 'extortionist, kidnapping gangs’ held in city
Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested 53 suspected members of kidnapping and extortionist gangs from different areas of the capital on Monday night.
During the drives, the elite force members also seized 60 mobile phone sets, 45 local weapons and Tk 1,44,730 in cash from their possessions.
Also read: Fugitive HuJI-B militant held in city
Fifteen teams of Rab-3 conducted simultaneous drives at Ramna, Khilgaon, Hatirjheel, Shahjahanpur, Paltan, Motijheel, Shahbag and Wari areas of the capital and arrested them, said ASP Imran Khan, assistant director (media) at RAB headquarters.
During the preliminary interrogation, the accused confessed to their involvement in extorting money from vegetable and fruit shops, temporary roadside shops, laguna (human hauler) stands and freight vehicles in different parts of the capital for a long time, he said.
Also read: Anti-narcotics drive: 74 held in city
The activities of some organized extortionists and kidnappers have increased in different areas of the capital ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.
Legal action will be taken against the arrestees, ASP Imran added.
Crocodile rescued at Bagerhat shrimp enclosure freed in the Sundarbans
Forest officials rescued a crocodile from a shrimp enclosure at Bururdanaga village in Mongla upazila of Bagerhat district on Tuesday. The 5-feet long crocodile is suspected to be seven years old and it came to the enclosure through crossing canals and rivers in the area, said Azad Kabir, in-charge of Karamjal Wild Animal Breeding Centre.
Also read:Rescued crocodile released back in Sundarban river
Akram Ali, an owner of the shrimp enclosure, informed the forest officials after finding the crocodile in his farm. Later, a team of forest officials rescued it and released it in the Sundarbans. So far, 206 crocodiles have been released in the canals and rivers of the Sundarbans and there are 92 crocodiles in the Karamjal breeding centre.
Also read:Rescued crocodile released back into the wild in Sundarbans
Romanian consular team likely to arrive Dhaka April 15
A consular team from Romania is expected to arrive Dhaka on April 15.
They are likely to start providing visa services from April 17, according to Bangladesh Embassy in Romania.
Also read:Romania to send Consular team to Dhaka for 3 months
Interested applicants have been advised to submit visa files to the designated desk at the BMET building in city's Kakrail.
The Romanian Foreign Ministry is sending the Consular team to Dhaka for three months to issue about 5000 visas including 3400 pending visas.
"They need some local assistance. This is the first time that they are sending such kind of consular mission abroad," Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said on Monday.
Also read:Romanian ambassador presents credentials to President Hamid amid hope of growing Dhaka-Bucharest ties
Following the bilateral consultation held in October 2021 between the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the two countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania approved opening of the temporary Consular office in Dhaka and sending a delegation for three months.
2 sentenced to death for killing schoolboy in Shariatpur
A tribunal here on Tuesday sentenced two people to death for killing an eighth grader after kidnapping him in Jajira upazila of Shariatpur district in 2020.
The condemned convicts were Imran Morol and Sakib Babu.
Also read:Bhola double murder: 2 sentenced to death
The tribunal also acquitted four accused -Aktar Madbor, Sajib Majhi, Mohsin Hawlader, and Swapa Hawlader.
Shariatpur Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Abdus Salam Khan pronounced the judgment with the convicts in the dock.
Both the defense and prosecution have expressed dissatisfaction over the judgment saying they will move to the higher court to get justice.
According to the case statement, local youths kidnapped Shakil Madbor and demanded Tk 5 lakh as ransom money.
They later killed him on June 25, 2020 and buried the body near a pillar of Padma Bridge at Jajira end. The victim’s father, Salam Madbor, lodged a complaint with Jajira police station.
Also read: Blogger Ananta killing: 4 sentenced to death
Later police arrested Sakib who took Shakil to play in a local field.
Based on Sakib’s information, police recovered the body of Shakil and a murder case was filed at Jajira Police Station accusing seven people.
Hi-tech park to be developed in Keraniganj
A 15,000 square feet hi-tech park is going to be established in Keraniganj, southern suburb of Dhaka city.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid laid the foundation stone of the 7-story hi-tech park in Keraniganj.
Also read: 'Boosting electronics, hi-tech industry the need of the day'
Addressing a function on the occasion, he said the hi-tech park will play an important role in creating skilled manpower in the country.
“There is no alternative to create skilled manpower to get the results of the fourth industrial revolution”, he said adding the initiative to create skilled manpower will help face the future challenges.
State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak and Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram K Doraiswami also addressed the function.
It was informed at the function that Tk 200 crore will be invested in the hi-tech park project which will have facilities to provide training to 1000 people per year.
Also read:KEPZ Hi-Tech park will attract huge FDI, hopes Palak
In addition, some 3000 more people will get the opportunity to be employed directly and indirectly under the project.
Zunaid Ahmed Palak said the government has been implementing a huge number of projects to develop digital Bangladesh.
“Already cent percent of people have access to electricity while 13 crore people are using the internet,” he said.