Former ICT prosecutor Tureen Afroz alleges assault at her home

Barrister Tureen Afroz, a former prosecutor at the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) and a law lecturer, has reported an attack at her residence in the capital. She claims that the attackers cut her hair and injured her legs during the incident. 

When contacted by TBS over phone for her comment, she said she was unwell and told the reporter to watch an interview she gave to Independent Television. 

In the interview, Tureen expressed her fear, saying, "My 16-year-old daughter was with me. I was terrified. If they had harmed or raped her, what would I have done as a mother?" 

She also claimed that the assailants attempted to force her to go live on Facebook with a prepared statement. "We cannot leave the house," Tureen Afroz said, adding, "But I will not go anywhere. I will stay in this country."

The incident follows an earlier attack on Tuesday, when her personal office and ancestral home in Jaldhaka upazila, Nilphamari, were vandalised.

Recounting the ordeal, she said, "They asked, 'Why aren't you wearing a hijab? Your mother has left the country. Why didn't you?' They continuously struck my legs with a pencil. I am diabetic."

Tureen Afroz also mentioned that the attackers had not allowed them to leave the house on Tuesday or Wednesday and demanded a written statement claiming, "The tribunal's judgment was incorrect. What I did was wrong. All the judgments of the International Crimes Tribunal were wrong."