A television show producer has been cleared of rape charges brought by an actor after the state failed to produce evidence against the defendant, reports bdnews24.com.
Judge Shamsunnahar of Dhaka’s No. 5 Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal passed the verdict on Wednesday.
“The judge in her verdict said the state has failed to prove beyond any doubts the allegations made in the case. The defendant was acquitted because of this reason,” Ali Asgar Swapan, the lawyer representing the State, told bdnews24.com.
Asked whether any settlement has been reached between the parties, the lawyer replied negatively.
No reaction from the plaintiff could be gathered.
The producer met the artist while working for a private television channel. As per the case dossier, at one point the producer told her that he loved her and promised to help her grow as an artist.
The plaintiff alleged that the producer would often ask her to visit his home to take up drama lessons. The actor was raped upon visiting his office on Aug 26, 2018 and when she wanted to take legal actions, the producer promised that he would marry her.
Following the first tryst, they had sex multiple times later, but the defendant ended up threatening to murder her, let alone marry her, the plaintiff alleged.
She then went on to file the case with the Hatirjheel police on Sep 13, 2018. The tribunal framed charges against the accused on Feb 06 and recorded testimonies from 12 of the 13 witnesses in the case.
