Protests husband’s refusal to register marriage
A teenage girl got severely injured after she torched herself yesterday at city’s Zia Sarani in Kadamtoli as her ‘husband’ refused to register their marriage.
Eighteen year old Ratna Akhter was rushed to the Burn Unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) after she doused herself in kerosene and set alight around 9.30am after having a quarrel with her ‘husband’ Pipul Kosai.
Kadamtoli police held Pipul last night.
Hasina Begum who came from Jessore to visit her niece Ratna said the couple had been living in the rented house for the last two months after they got married ‘verbally’. As their marriage was not registered, she had advised Ratna to legalise it.
However, when Ratna pressed Pipul to register their marriage he demanded Tk 1 lakh from her, she added.
The couple had been in the middle of a fight in the morning when Ratna set herself ablaze in the heat of the argument, said Hasina. Pipul fled the scene immediately after the incident.
Hasina said Ratna lost her mother in early childhood. Since then, she had been looking after the girl as her own child, said Hasina in a voice choked with emotions.
Ratna had been working in Dhaka as a domestic help for the last four years. A few months ago she got a job at a garments factory and met Pipul shortly afterwards.
Kazi Ayubur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Kadamtoli Police Station said the police are investigating the matter. Filing of a case in connection to the incident is under process, he added.
