“They used to lock me in the bathroom”, “they burnt my neck with a hot spatula”, “they broke my teeth with a pestle”, and “they used to sprinkle chilli powder into my eyes” — these are the allegations of abuse made by an 11-year-old girl who worked as a domestic worker at the home of Safiqur Rahman, former managing director of Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
The girl also said that whenever her father visited her, the family made her wear oversized clothes to conceal the marks of abuse on her body.
The police have included the girl’s account in a charge sheet submitted to the court. On 31 August, Rubel Mia, the investigating officer and a sub-inspector (SI) of Uttara West police station, filed the charge sheet with a Dhaka court. It names Shafiqul Rahman, his wife, Bithi Akter, and two domestic workers at the house, Rupali Khatun and Sufia Begum, as accused.
The court has accepted the charge sheet and sent the case to Judge Sohel Rana of the 7th Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal in Dhaka for trial.
Rubel Mia, the investigating officer and an SI (Sub-Inspector) at Uttara West police station, told Prothom Alo, “I found the allegations to be substantiated during the investigation and included the findings in the charge sheet. Two of the accused admitted to the abuse in their statements.”
The alleged abuse came to light on 31 January, when the girl’s father took her from the home of Safiqur Rahman, the former managing director (MD) of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, and admitted her to hospital. The following day, 1 February, her father filed a case alleging that the accused had tortured his daughter.
The case names Shafiqul Rahman, his wife, Bithi Akter, and the two other domestic workers at the house, Rupali Khatun and Sufia Begum.
According to the case statement and accounts from the girl’s relatives, Jahangir, a security guard at Safiqur Rahman’s home in Sector 9 of Uttara, Dhaka, arranged for the 11-year-old girl to work there and look after the younger children.
Her father, who worked at a hotel, sent her to the house in June last year after receiving assurances that the family would cover the costs of her marriage and other expenses.
The case statement further says that the father last visited his daughter at the house on 2 November last year. After that, the family did not allow her to meet her relatives. On 31 January this year, Safiqur Rahman’s wife telephoned the father, informed him that the girl was ill and asked him to take her home.
When he arrived to collect his daughter, he noticed marks of abuse on her body. According to the case statement, he then admitted her to Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital in Gazipur.
Police arrested all four accused that night following the father’s complaint. Safiqur Rahman, the former Biman MD, and domestic worker Rupali Khatun were subsequently released on bail. Bithi Akter, Safiqur Rahman’s wife, and the other domestic worker, Sufia Begum, remain in custody.
On 8 February, the girl gave a statement before the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Nazmin Akter. The charge sheet includes her account of the alleged abuse.
In her statement, the girl said she had worked at Safiqur Rahman’s home for eight months. Her duties included looking after the “MD sir’s” child and picking up anything the child dropped on the floor. However, she alleged that Bithi Akter, the female head of the household, had beaten and tortured her from the time she arrived.
According to the girl’s statement, as cited in the charge sheet, Bithi Akter burnt various parts of her body with a hot spatula. When the girl screamed, she beat her with bamboo sticks and struck her thighs, both arms and back. She also sprinkled chilli powder into the girl’s eyes.
The girl further stated that, at one point, the accused broke her teeth using a pestle. She also alleged that the two other domestic workers at the house abused her.
Citing the girl’s account, the IO stated in the charge sheet that the family locked her in the bathroom. In an attempt to survive, she even drank water from the toilet and ate toothpaste.
What the charge sheet says about Safiqur’s role
The charge sheet also brings allegations against Safiqur Rahman, the former managing director of Biman Bangladesh Airlines. It states that his wife tortured the child for days on end, while he pretended not to notice despite witnessing the abuse. The IO noted that Safiqur could not evade responsibility for his wife’s wrongdoing and criminal acts.
Responding to the allegations, Safiqur Rahman’s lawyer, Arifur Rahman said, “The child gave a statement before the court. There, she said that she had never seen the MD. The MD himself did not beat her. Since the charge sheet has been filed, we will face the trial.”
What Bithi and Sufia Said
On 21 February, Bithi Akter, the wife of the former Biman MD, gave a confessional statement before Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ismail. In her statement, she admitted to beating the child over three or four days but denied the allegations of severe torture.
Another domestic worker at the house, Sufia Begum, also gave a confessional statement before the court. She said the child had falsely accused her of stealing coconut oil and soap. For this reason, she admitted to beating the child for two days.
In her statement, Sufia said Bithi, the wife of the former Biman MD, would beat the child on various occasions, often in their presence.
She said, “One day, Madam told me to heat a spatula and bring it to her. I was working in the kitchen at the time. I did not take the spatula to her. Later, Madam came into the kitchen herself, heated the spatula and burnt the child’s left thigh with it.”
Sufia said she did not know why Bithi had burnt the child. She added that, after hearing the child scream, she went to her and applied cold water and cream to the girl’s thigh.
Father demands justice
Golam Mostafa, the complainant in the case and the child’s father, told Prothom Alo, “The scars on my daughter’s body are still there. Her eyes keep watering. I have enrolled her in a madrasah, but she has difficulty seeing.”
“I cannot afford my daughter’s medical treatment. I feel frightened when I see her scars. I want the harshest possible punishment for the accused so that no one else has to suffer such beatings,” Golam Mostafa said.