Fatwa accused Idris remanded
The Brac Bank has come forward to donate Tk 1 lakh to the family of Hena Akter, the girl whipped to death in Shariatpur last month, following a report published in The Daily Star on February 11 headlined “Double Blow for family”.
Hena’s father Darbesh Kha, a day labourer, borrowed Tk 40,000 to arrange her treatment, burial and other relevant expenses such as food and conveyance, the report mentioned quoting family members.
“This, we believe, is the least we could do as a socially responsible, human bank,” reads a statement sent by the bank Friday.
It also stated that the family did not take any loan from the bank. Quoting family members, The Daily Star had mentioned that the family took Tk 10,000 loan from Brac Bank on condition to repay in 46 weeks at a rate of Tk 250 a week.
When contacted again, the family corrected the information, saying the loan was actually taken from Brac micro-credit programme at Bijari in Shariatpur. The micro financier yesterday wrote off the loan as a gesture of support for the grieving family.
[The Daily Star regrets the error in report and thanks Brac Bank and Brac micro-credit programme for the gesture]
ACCUSED IDRIS REMANDED
A correspondent from Shariatpur reports: Idris Ali Sheikh, one of the main organisers of the fatwa (religious edict) that ordered to whip Hena Akter, was remanded yesterday by a Shariatpur court.
The Criminal Investigation Department sought a seven-day remand after producing him at Shariatpur Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court and Senior Judicial Magistrate Ashok Kumar Dutta granted remand for five days.
Hena, 15, was whipped following a fatwa on January 24 for allegedly having an affair with her married cousin Mahbub while her family kept on insisting that she had actually been raped by the man. She died on January 31.
Aklima Begum, mother of the deceased, filed a fresh case Friday night with Naria Police Station accusing 18 people in connection with Hena’s death.
Sub-Inspector Kamal Hossain has been investigating the case.
Via: The Daily Star
http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=173992