Ex-AL MP lands in jail in rape case

Former Awami-League (AL) lawmaker of Pabna-2 constituency, Khandker Azizul Haque, has been sent to jail in a rape case after judge Shamsunnahar at the women and children repression prevention tribunal-5 in Dhaka passed the order on Wednesday.

Special public prosecutor (PP) of the tribunal, Ali Asgar, confirmed the matter to Prothom Alo.  

Azizul Haque was elected parliamentarian from Pabna-2 in 2014 last.

It is learnt that a woman filed a rape case with a Dhaka court against Azizul Haque on 19 April in 2022.

The court directed the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) to probe the case. Later, the PBI submitted a charge sheet to the court on 5 January, this year.

As per the charge sheet, the plaintiff and the lawmaker got acquainted in 2001. Then Azizul Haque developed an intimate relationship with the woman on the pretext of marrying her. Later, the woman gave birth to a baby. But the accused denied the fatherhood of the baby and stopped contacting the victim.

According to the DNA report, Azizul Haque is the biological father of the baby.

The lawyer of the accused, Ahsanul Haque Chowdhury, told Prothom Alo that the case was filed to harass his client. He is not denying the fatherhood of the baby. The accused has been suffering from diabetes.

The plaintiff herself said in the case that they established a marital relationship with Tk 500,000 as mohrana, he added.