Police have arrested a woman on charges of assaulting her elderly mother-in-law following a dispute in Rangpur’s Kaunia Upazila.
A video clip of the incident went viral on social media, in which Ratna Begum was seen viciously hitting 62-year-old Aysha Begum on a street in Balapara on Thursday, reports bdnews24.com.
Law enforcers later arrested Ratna on Friday, Kaunia Police Station Inspector (Investigation) Selimur Rahman said. Aysha was admitted to Kaunia Upazila Health Complex after the incident.
A mother of two, Aysha has been living alone ever since her daughter got married, according to Haider Ali, a member of Balapara Union Parishad. Her son Ashraful Islam, 30, and his Ratna live in a separate house nearby.
Ashraful went to Dhaka without informing anyone a few days ago. Ratna went to her mother-in-law's house to ask about Ashraful's whereabouts. But when Aysha failed to account for him, Ratna started physically abusing her.
“Ratna dragged her mother-in-law out onto the street and began verbally and physically abusing her in broad daylight. Someone filmed the attack and posted it on social media. The video went viral on Friday and caused an uproar in the area,” Ali said.
Despite the victim's screams for help, no one initially came to her aid. At one point, a man tried to restrain the young woman, but she went berserk and struck the old woman with her sandals.
Ali said he took Aysha to the local police station to file a complaint over the incident. Police interrogated Ratna following her arrest.