In a significant development surrounding the high-profile death of 19-year-old Morium Khatun, her father, S.M. Masum Billah, has reached an out-of-court settlement with Member of Parliament Gazi Nazrul Islam and his family. Appearing before the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sefatullah in Dhaka on Wednesday, 30 September, Mr Billah filed a formal affidavit expressing no objection to bail for the accused MP or his first wife, Maksuda Islam.
The court recorded Mr Billah’s testimony during the proceedings. Public Prosecutor Omar Faruq Faruqui and defence counsel Mahbubur Rahman confirmed the filing of the affidavit. While the complainant’s decision not to oppose bail marks a pivotal shift in the case, legal experts note that because the matter remains under active police investigation, any future procedural outcomes will ultimately rest on the court’s judicial discretion.
The tragedy unfolded on 20 September, when officers recovered Morium’s body hanging inside Flat 203 of the Nam Bhaban, the residential complex designated for members of parliament in the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area of the capital. Because the bedroom door was locked from the inside, law enforcement personnel, with assistance from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), broke into the apartment. Investigators retrieved several handwritten notes from the scene.
Following the discovery, Mr Billah filed a case at the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station, accusing Gazi Nazrul Islam—the lawmaker for the Satkhira-4 constituency—alongside Maksuda Islam and Morium’s maternal uncle, Obaidur Rahman, of driving his daughter to suicide. Police arrested the parliamentarian and his first wife that same evening, with Obaidur Rahman also subsequently taken into custody and remanded.
Investigating officers have been scrutinising the complex domestic dynamics inside the parliamentary residence. Following two separate remand periods totalling eight days, police returned Gazi Nazrul to judicial custody on Monday. According to progress reports presented to the court, interrogation yielded details regarding Morium’s treatment prior to her death. Police revealed that whilst Nazrul occupied the primary bedroom with his first wife, Morium was frequently made to sleep on an adjacent balcony. Investigating officers further informed the court that evidence indicated the teenager had endured systematic physical and mental abuse.
The case has attracted extensive public attention since its inception. Prior to her death, private video footage involving Gazi Nazrul and Morium circulated widely across social media platforms, sparking intense political and public debate. Reports at the time noted that the MP subsequently acknowledged Morium as his second wife. Mr Billah had earlier alleged that Obaidur Rahman played a key role in facilitating the relationship between his daughter and the lawmaker, though those claims remain subject to ongoing judicial evaluation.
With the complainant now formally withdrawing his opposition to bail, attention turns to how the magistrate will weigh the father’s affidavit against the police findings during the next bail hearing.
