Bangladesh cricketer Shahadat Hossain surrenders in court

Dhaka: Cricketer Shahadat Hossain surrendered before a Dhaka court on Monday, a day after police arrested his wife -- the couple is accused of torturing their minor housemaid.

The pacer and his wife had been absconding since a case was registered against them last month under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act on charges of torturing their minor housemaid.

Hossain’s counsel Kazi Nazibullah Hiru said they had a filed a bail plea which the court of Dhaka’s Metropolitan Magistrate Yousuf Hossain was expected to hear later on Monday.

Early on Sunday, police arrested the cricketer's wife Jesmin Jahan from her father’s house in Dhaka’s Malibagh. She was presented in a court, where the police sought her remand for questioning her.

The court denied police her custody and sent Jahan to jail. 

Hossain had on September 6 filed a police complaint claiming that the housemaid had gone missing. But several hours later, the 11-year-old girl surfaced to accuse the cricketer and his wife of torturing her regularly.

Police said one Khandkar Mozzamel Haque found the girl at Mirpur and took her to the local police. Haque later filed the case.

Hossain last played for Bangladesh in May against Pakistan. He went off the field on the first day of the first Test following a leg injury.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had got him treated in Australia and he was undergoing a rehabilitation programme.

The BCB has described the reports of the Hossain couple torturing a minor as ‘utterly embarrassing’ and banned the pacer from all forms of cricket until the charges have been settled.