Murder case filed over Gazipur imam beaten to death on sodomy allegations
The complaint named 17 individuals and listed 30 others as unidentified accused
A murder case has been filed in Gazipur over the death of a mosque imam who was beaten by locals for allegedly sodomising multiple minors.
The deceased imam's wife, Sajeda Akter, filed a written complaint with Pubail Police Station on 28 April, alleging that locals beat her "innocent" husband to death based on false accusations.
The complaint named 17 individuals and listed 30 others as unidentified accused.
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Police registered the complaint as a murder case today (3 May), Pubail Police Station OC Amirul Islam confirmed The Business Standard.
"We are investigating the death of Imam Rohij Uddin. Following the complaint from his family, we have registered a case, and operations are ongoing to identify and arrest those responsible," said the OC.
In her complaint, Sajeda Akter stated that her husband had been the imam and khatib of the mosque for four months. Initially commuting, he later resided on the mosque's third floor.
She explained that while he delivered Quran and Sunnah-based sermons before daily prayers, including Friday prayers, a faction in the Hyderabad area opposed him and tried to remove him.
"This faction later orchestrated a false rape accusation involving a defendant's child being tied to a tree. Subsequently, the defendants brutally beat Rohij Uddin intending to kill him and causing severe bleeding," said the complaint.
Rohij Uddin, 35, who was the imam and khatib of the Akhladul Jame Mosque in Haidarabad area in Gazipur's Pubail, was accused of sexually violating a male madrasah student and allegedly drugging and sexually abusing other young boys.
On 27 April, locals caught Rohij, put a garland of shoes around his neck and tied him to a tree, and beat him after the allegations against him surfaced.
Police rescued him and later arrested him in a case filed under Section 9(1) of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act by a victim's guardian at Pubail Police Station. A Gazipur court sent Rohij to the District Jail after he was presented before it in the case.
According to police, Rohij was taken to jail in poor health. He was rushed to Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital after he fell ill in jail. He was declared dead on arrival by on-duty doctors.
