Top Bangladesh cricketer charged with torturing maid

Shahadat Hossain. Photo / AFP

Police have charged Bangladesh test cricketer Shahadat Hossain and his wife Jasmine Jahan Nritto Shahadat with torturing their former domestic servant, an 11-year-old girl.

If found guilty, the couple may face jail terms up to 14 years. They have been bailed and deny charges of employing and assaulting a minor, the BBC reported.

Bangladesh's Cricket Board has already suspended the medium-fast bowler. The case will be heard on January 12.

The girl, Mahfuza Akhter Happy, was found in a Dhaka street in September with multiple injuries, including a broken leg and a black eye. She told police that she had been working for the couple for a year and that they had beaten and tortured her.

The charges have been brought under legislation designed to protect women and children from domestic abuse. Hossain went to police on September 6 claiming that his maid was missing.

Hossain is regarded as a sporting star in his country. The 29-year-old played 38 tests for Bangladesh and became the first player from his country to have his name added to the famous Lords honours board in London after a five-wicket haul against England in 2010.

The Guardian reported that Hossain was arrested on October 5, after four weeks on the run, when he turned himself in to police a day after his wife was arrested at her parents' house in Dhaka. Both were held in custody until courts granted them bail.

In an interview with CNN, Akhter said she was kept locked up in Hossain's household, forced to sleep in a bathroom and given only leftovers to eat, until she decided to risk a life on the streets rather than continue suffering in domestic bondage.