Singer Noble arrested, sent to jail after woman allegedly confined, raped by him for 7 months rescued
Police rescued the woman from a house in Demra last night (19 May) following a call to the national emergency service 999.
Popular singer Mainul Ahsan Noble was arrested early today (20 May) from the Demra area of Dhaka in a case filed over the alleged abduction, confinement, rape, and torture of a woman over a period of seven months.
Md Talebur Rahman, deputy commissioner (media and public relations) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, confirmed Noble's arrest this morning.
The case was filed by the victim at the Demra Police Station, naming Noble as the prime accused, after police rescued her last night (19 May) from a house in Demra following a call to the national emergency service 999.
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His bail plea was rejected following a hearing at the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court today (20 May) at around 3pm.
Later in the day, the court sent the singer to jail.
Two to three unnamed individuals were also accused in the case.
A video of a man, allegedly Noble, dragging a woman -- now identified as the rescued woman -- down a staircase recently went viral on social media.
The victim's parents, upon seeing the video, contacted the emergency service, prompting a police raid at the house in Demra at around 10pm last night and leading to the woman's rescue.
At the time, however, Noble managed to escape. But he was tracked and arrested at around 2am, Demnra police OC Mahmudur Rahman told Prothom Alo.
He said Noble had rented a microbus with a plan to cross the border and escape the country, but he was caught before he could run.
According to the case statement, the victim, a student of Eden Mohila College, first came into contact with Noble on social media in 2018. Their communication then continued over the phone.
On 12 November last year, Noble reportedly met her in Mohammadpur and persuaded her to visit his house in Demra under the pretext of showing her his music studio.
When she wanted to leave, Noble and several others allegedly took away her mobile phone, broke it when she tried to contact her family, and confined her in a room.
The complaint states that Noble raped her and filmed the act, later threatening to release the footage online if she refused to remain at his residence.
The victim alleged that she was physically assaulted, dragged by the hair, and repeatedly confined during this period.
The case further mentions that the victim was subjected to threats and rape multiple times from 12 November onwards until her rescue last night.
OC Mahmudur said another case under the Pornography Control Act was also filed against Noble for allegedly capturing the rape of the woman on video and blackmailing her.
This, however, is not the first time that the singer has been caught in a controversy.
On 20 May 2023, he was detained by police in a case filed for fraud and a complaint filed by his wife.
In 2022, a legal notice was served to Noble for making offensive remarks against Bangladesh national anthem's writer Rabindranath Tagore.
