Bangladesh cricket star Shahadat Hossain has been charged with torturing an 11-year-old girl who he once kept as a domestic servant.
Police have charged Hossain and his wife Jasmine Jahan Nritto Shahadat with child repression and employing a minor after Mahfuza Akhter claimed she was beaten by the couple while she worked in their home.
“They used to beat me with sticks, kitchen utensils, punch me, and scratch me. I would be slapped a lot,” Akhter told CNN.
Akhter, who is known as ‘Happy’ by those close to her, claims that her grandmother sent her to work for the couple but that they proceeded to lock her in the house and forced her to sleep in their bathroom.
The young girl escaped when she ran out the front door after another maid arrived for work
“When the house maid came inside the house, she opened the door. While the door was open, I ran out of the house.”
“I was in a lot of pain,” Akhter explained. “While I was walking on the road, people were staring at me. I covered my eye because it was bruised and it was hurting. At one point, I got exhausted and I sat down by the side of the road.”
Akhter was taken to hospital and police were contacted who issued an appeal for the couple before Hossain turned himself in a number of weeks late, the day after his wife was brought into custody.
Hossain, a 29-year-old fast bowler, and his wife are currently on bail and both deny the charges.
Bangladesh’s Cricket Board has already suspended the player and the case will be heard on 12 January, with a potential 14-year prison sentence if the couple are found guilty.
