She was like a goose that laid golden eggs tor him on demand

Iharna was beaten up and tortured in many ways by her husband Mahbub, every time for dowry, and she never failed to deliver.

But things went wrong for Mahbub two months ago when Iharna decided that enough was enough and divorced him. Since then he has been pressing her family to give him another chance and allow him to take Ihorna back to his house.

As all his attempts failed to make them agree, on the night of March 14 Mahbub and his accomplices set Jharna on fire while she slept at night.

Jharna is now undergoing treatment with severe burn injuries in her face, neck, hands and legs at the Burn and Plastic Surgery unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

Jharna's cruel fate began over a year ago when she was married off to Mahbub of Char Nimtoli in Munshiganj district. Her father who works as a labourer in the Middle East, paid a hefty dowry to get his daughter married.

“We paid Mahbub Tk 30.000 in cash and gave him We also gave Jharna two tolas ot gold," her mother Jahura Begum said.

"But six months Into the marriage, Mahbub began new demands for dowry. We tried to give him what we could but here was no end to his wants. He hadn't even taken Iharna to his own home yet. I hen he came up with a demand to arrange and pay for his way abroad to

Kuwait for work," she said.

“After a while we agreed to do so but sought some time to arrange for such an expensive thing. But Mahbub became impatient and started torturing my daughter. Ue even burnt her palms and hands with burning cigarettes. Iharna finally decided that a divorce was the only way out of these endless pain," Jahura said.

Since the divorce, Mahbub has been trying to make her family agree to sit down for negotiations to "settle the matter" and take Jharna back to his family.

which they refused to do.

On the night of March 14, at around 10:30pm, Jharna was sleeping with her younger sister at her father's house, also in Char Nimtoli. Suddenly she woke up to find herself drenched in some sort ol a liquid. As she sat up in surprise, she saw a hand throwing a burning matchstick at her and instantly her body was on fire.

With presence of mind, she jumped out ol bed and managed to capture one of her attackers who was trying to flee Her screams woke up the household and neighbours while two other men fled the scene.

Locals later handed over the captured Sona Miah, a neighbour, to the police while Iharna was rushed to DMCH.

“Since my divorce, Mahbub has been threatening to teach me a lesson so that I cannot ever get married to someone else if 1 don't return to him,” Jharna said from her hospital bed.

Jharna's family has filed a case against Mahbub and the two other men with Sirajdi Police station in Munshiganj.

The investigation officer of the case, Subinspector Golam Kibria toldThe Daily Star that the accused Sona Miah has confessed that Mahbub led the attack on Jharna.