Thirty-eight citizens in a statement have protested against alleged attempts to harass human rights activist, a lawyer and a journalist for standing by a woman victim.
The statement sent to media outlets on Friday said that the team leader of external affairs of the Bangladesh resident mission of the Asian Development Bank, Gobinda Bar, cheated development worker Sadhana Mahol in the guise of marriage.
It said, ‘He tortured the woman physically and mentally seeking dowry and also forced her to get a divorce. When the woman filed a case against him and protested in public, false allegations were made against the woman and he harassed her through the Cyber Security Act.’
The statement also said, ‘Human rights activist Rezaur Rahman Lenin, human rights lawyer Roshan Ara Lina and journalist Ismail Ahsan stood by the woman victim and Gobinda tried to harass them by accusing under the CSA.’
The citizens expressed their stance against the misuse of the CSA saying freedom of expression and other fundamental rights can also be curtailed through this law.
However, Gobinda Bar told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· on Saturday that the issue had been pending with the court and was now a sub judice matter.
‘But they were continuously spreading propaganda against me which was highly defamatory,’ Gonda Bar said.
The signatories in the statement include Ishrat Jahan (Bondini Rehabilitation Uddog), Manjila Jhuma (Lawyer), journalist Md Abdul Qayum (Mymensingh), journalist Fazle Elahi (Rangamati), journalist Abu Taib (Khulna), Photojournalist Shafiqul Islam Kajal (London), journalist Adhra Yasmin (Dhaka), and teacher Sirajam Munira (Begum Rokeya University), among others.
In March, Sadhana Mahol, a development worker, demanded the punishment of Gobinda Bar for marrying her by hiding information about his previous marriage.
Sadhana, in a press conference, claimed that Gobinda Bar, also an NGO worker, married her without informing her that he was a married person.
‘Gobinda was trying to leave our marriage when his first wife filed a case against him in March 2023,’ Sadhana said.
‘Moreover, Gobinda filed a case against me in 2023, alleging that I have demanded a dowry of Tk 80 lakh from him,’ she said.
Sadhana demanded the immediate withdrawal of cases filed by Gobinda against her. She also demanded the exemplary punishment of Gobinda for torturing and assaulting her.
