A model and actor in Dhaka cinema has alleged that she was tied up and beaten for two hours after being pressed to marry the chairman of Ashiyan Group and Ashiyan Lands Development Limited, Md Nazrul Islam Bhuiyan. She has also alleged that a model coordinator who was with her, Emon, was physically assaulted and had a toenail pulled out.
The actor has played the lead female role in several recent Dhallywood films.
She alleges that from 9pm to 11pm on Friday, 24 July, she was tied hand and foot and beaten for two straight hours, had warm coffee poured over her, was abused in obscene language and was finally made to drink coffee mixed with an intoxicating or toxic substance. She further alleged that the model coordinator, Emon, who was with her was also assaulted by the businessman’s associates, and that a toenail was pulled out.
Describing the incident, she said a coordinator named Emon, whom she had known for about a year, telephoned her with an offer to be the model in a company’s advertising film for a year. Emon told her the job was worth 20 lakh taka and that he would give her 17 lakh. But she would have to go to the company to finalise the deal.
On that basis, she said, they reached the Ashiyan Medical College Hospital beside the 300 Feet road in the capital at about 8.30pm on 24 July in an Uber she had booked. She said she felt uneasy as soon as they arrived and asked Emon why there was a fingerprint reader in the corridor. Emon said it was probably extra security because the owner was inside. On going in, she said, she found the chairman of Ashiyan Group and Ashiyan Lands Development Limited, Md Nazrul Islam Bhuiyan, sitting there, with several of his close associates nearby.
She said tea, snacks, coffee, dates and biscuits arrived amid a little conversation at the start. Then, she alleged, the businessman suddenly began shouting, telling her he had been looking for her for years and that he had married her twice. She said he addressed her by another woman’s name and accused her of taking crores of taka from him. She replied that she was from northern Bangladesh, she said.
She alleged that he continued to insist she was that other woman, that she had taken money from him, and that she would have to marry him again. She alleged that he then put blank stamped papers in front of her and picked up a sharp, sword-like weapon.
She said: “At that point I could not work out what to do. Every time I said I was not that woman, he grew angrier. Emon signalled to me to act as though I were her — to sign the blank document, take the money for the advertising contract and leave. In that situation I was forced to sign a false name to save myself.”
Signing did not save her, she alleged. She said everyone was ordered out of the room and she was made to sit on a bed-type sofa. When she said she could not be forced, she alleged, he became angrier still, threatened her with the weapon and forced her to sit down. She alleged that he then produced a rope, threw away her phone, tied her feet and, when she said her circulation was being cut off, slapped her and tied her hands. She alleged that he struck her repeatedly on the soles of her feet with a stick 14 times in all, and struck her a further five to seven times on the upper part of the neck, as well as on the thigh, back, hands and other parts of the body.
At that point, she alleged, a woman member of the businessman’s staff arrived. She alleged that the businessman then calmed somewhat and ordered coffee, and that when she objected the warm coffee was poured over her hands and she was then made to drink it, mixed with an intoxicating substance.
She said that at one stage the businessman appeared to realise she was not the woman he had taken her for, and the bindings on her hands and feet were removed. Finding the fingerprint-controlled door open, she said, she got out of the room quickly and ran towards the veranda in front, then jumped down from the veranda to the 300 Feet road, stopped a passing auto-rickshaw and got in. That, she said, is how she escaped with her life. She has marks of injury across her body. Members of her family said she lost consciousness as soon as she reached home.
The model and actor filed a case against the accused at Khilkhet police station on the night of Sunday, 26 July.
Contacted about the allegations, Md Nazrul Islam Bhuiyan of Ashiyan Group said the allegations were all false. When the tracking of the complainant’s location was put to him, he said he had known her four years ago. When it was put to him that he had beaten her taking her for another woman, and that she was not that woman, he said he would meet the following morning and rang off.
None of the allegations has been tested in court, and no charges have been framed.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report