Woman narrates the horror of torture inflicted by her in-laws

She was tied to a tree and beaten mercilessly all over her body, yet she kept silent and did not seek help as she was going through the inhuman torture.

For all she knew, there was nothing she did wrong. All she did was marry the man she fell in love with.

However, her in-laws allegedly did not accept their marriage as she had been a divorcee and resorted to torture her in a bid to drive her off their house.

This is the story of Moyna Khatun, 24, who got married to one Aslam Ali at a Kushtia court on February 11 without informing the families, reports our Kushtia correspondent.

After their marriage, Moyna came to live at the house of her in-laws in Golapnagar of Bheramara upazila in Kushtia along with her husband Aslam. But her in-laws refused to accept them, alleging that Moyna had tempted Aslam to marry her.

And then a brutal story of torture on the woman unfolded.

“Aslam’s father Muktar Ali, cousin Sohel Rana, and sister Runa Khatun openly threatened me to drive me away from the house,” Moyna, lying on a hospital bed writhing in agony, said.

They had forced her to leave the house and she returned to her father’s house in Damukdia under the same upazila.

But her in-laws had more plans up their sleeves as it seems.

In a written complaint filed with Bheramara Police Station on Monday, March 25, Moyna said she received a call from Sohel Rana on Saturday, March 23, telling her to go to Aslam’s house as he would try to solve the matter.

After consulting with her husband, she went to the house on the same day and spent the night there, she said.

The next day in the afternoon, her in-laws and some of their relatives gathered at the house and sat for a meeting.

“All of a sudden, they started shouting at me and my husband using vulgar words,” she said.

At one stage, Sohel Rana ran inside Moyna and her husband’s room with an iron rod, brought her out and locked up Aslam inside the room as he started protesting their abuse.

They then allegedly started to beat her up.

“They mercilessly beat me on my back, hands, legs and chest and cut off my hair,” Moyna said in the complaint.

They then tied her to a tree and continued their torture on her, until some elderly people in the village rushed to the scene and made it stop.

They also freed Moyna and her husband, who later decided to leave the house.

Meanwhile, Moyna was admitted to Bheramara upazila health complex as she sustained critical injuries.

The matter came to the light late as she feared further abuse if she had disclosed it.

Later, on Sunday, she lodged the complaint with the police station, accusing seven people including Aslam’s father Muktar Ali, sisters Runa Khatun and Selina Khatun, cousin Sohel Rana, and relatives Rocky, Nazim, and Mannan, all of them are residents of Golapnagar area in the upazila.

Mizanur Rahman, a physician at the health complex, told The Daily Star that the woman was mercilessly beaten and was suffering from severe pain all over her body.

Shamim Khondokar, officer-in-charge (OC) of the police station, confirmed the incident saying that Aslam’s family denied his marriage with Moyna as she was divorced once.

“But the law will go in its own way. Police are trying to arrest the culprits,” he said. Superintendent of Police (SP) in Kushtia Tanvir Arafat said that action will be taken against the culprits whoever they are.

Talking to The Daily Star, Aslam expressed his grief as he could not rescue his wife from the hands of the culprits.

“I want their punishment,” he said.