Cricketer Nasir, wife Tamima acquitted in adultery case
Both Nasir and Tamima were present in court when the judgment was announced.
A Dhaka court today (10 June) acquitted cricketer Nasir Hossain and his wife Tamima Sultana Tammi in a case filed over allegations of marrying without a legal divorce from her former husband.
Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Jashita Islam delivered the verdict this afternoon.
Both Nasir and Tamima were present in court when the judgment was announced.
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In the verdict, the court noted that a charge had been framed against Tamima under Section 494 of the Penal Code, for remarrying while still married.
The judge observed that proving the offence required establishing that her second marriage was invalid and that her divorce from her former husband, Rakib Hasan, had not been legally effective.
The court found that documentary evidence proved Tamima had divorced Rakib. A registered divorce deed was submitted, and records showed her signature confirming the divorce.
Responding to the complainant's claim that he had not received divorce notice, the court noted that the defence produced postal receipts showing it had been sent.
A postal employee also testified that he attempted delivery, but the complainant refused to accept the notice.
The court further observed that after Tamima divorced Rakib in 2016, the two met only a few times before her 2021 marriage to Nasir.
The judge noted that this did not support the claim they had continued to live as husband and wife or maintained a marital relationship during that period.
The court's judgment included testimony from the couple's child, who stated that her mother had taken her to meet her father at Hotel Le Méridien.
The court noted that Rakib had given Tamima delegated authority (talaq-e-tafwid) to dissolve the marriage.
Using that authority, she divorced him in 2016, and the divorce was later registered. The judge concluded that there was therefore no legal bar to Tamima marrying Nasir in 2021.
The court also held that the complainant failed to prove the remaining allegations against the accused. As a result, both Tamima and Nasir Hossain were acquitted of all charges.
Earlier, on 6 May, the court set the verdict date after hearing final arguments from both sides.
The plaintiff's lawyers sought the maximum punishment for the accused, while the defence maintained that the couple were innocent and requested their acquittal.
According to the case statement, Tamima married Rakib Hasan on 26 February 2011 and they have an eight-year-old daughter. Tamima works as a cabin crew member.
The case statement stated that photographs of Tamima's marriage to Nasir surfaced on social media on 14 February 2021, drawing Rakib's attention.
After learning more through media reports, he claimed that Tamima had married Nasir while her marriage to him was still legally valid.
Rakib alleged that Tamima and Nasir's marriage was unlawful under both religious and state laws and that Nasir had enticed Tamima away from him.
He also claimed the relationship caused severe mental distress to him and his daughter and harmed his reputation.
On 30 September 2021, a Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) inspector filed a report accusing three people.
The court framed charges against Nasir and Tamima on 24 January 2022, formally opening the trial, while Tamima's mother, Sumi Akter, was exempted from the charges.
Although the court ordered the trial to begin on 9 February 2022, proceedings were delayed by revision petitions and other legal challenges.
After those applications were dismissed, the trial resumed.
Testimony recording began in March 2023 with complainant Rakib's deposition, and by April 2025, the court had examined 10 witnesses.
