Ex-UP chairman held for raping woman on pretext of marriage

Police have arrested a former chairman of a local union parishad in Netrakona allegedly for raping a woman on the pretext of marriage.

The arrestee has been identified as Sohrab, 62, a former chairman of Kaillati union parishad in Sadar upazila.

The victim lodged a complaint with the police on Monday night, following which the accused was arrested the next day. He was produced in a court that sent him to judicial custody, said sub-inspector Nazmul Huda of Netrakona model police station.

According to the complaint, the woman, aged about 40, had married a man after the demise of her first husband. However, her second husband abandoned her later.

Taking advantage of her situation, Sohrab allegedly developed an illicit relationship with the woman, a mother of two children, on the pretext of marriage. However, he later refused to marry the woman.