Wife buys time with jailed husband

A woman managed to briefly meet her imprisoned husband face to face, bribing her way through prison guards at Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday.

In the end, however, the 26-year-old was spotted by the police while two prison guards were suspended for arranging the meeting.

The incident happened in the DMCH-2 in the afternoon.

A special hospital staff, Masum, allegedly managed a room for the couple to talk in private.

Police and jail sources said the husband is Mozammel, who is serving 10 years' jail in a case over the 2009 Pilkhana carnage. The couple got married about a year before the BDR mutiny that killed 74 people, including 57 top and mid-ranking army officers.

Authorities of the Dhaka Central Jail sent Mozammel, also known as Moazzem, to the DMCH around 11:30am after he fell ill. His wife got news and rushed to the hospital to meet him with some food.

She allegedly bribed two prison guards -- Wahiduzzaman and Jasimuddin – for arranging the meeting. Police learned about it half an hour later and asked the women to go home, police and  hospital sources said.

“It was the first time in six to seven years that we met face to face. That's why we were talking. I didn't know it is not allowed,” Mozammel, a soldier, told reporters after the incident. 

"The two prison guards have been handed over to the prison authorities. Masum [the hospital employee] was released upon undertakings,” said Mozammel Haque, in-charge of the DMCH police outpost.

Senior Superintendent of Dhaka Central Jail Jahangir Kabir told The Daily Star that the two prison guards were suspended for allowing the meeting without permission from the authorities.

Such meetings between relatives and convict persons without prior approval are unlawful, he added. 

"After a very long time, I was speaking to my husband in private. But now, it has become a great chaos. This is not right," said the woman, asking not to be named. 

It's not clear if the couple has any kid.