What's the story?
Bangladeshi cricketer, Arafat Sunny has revealed that he was secretly married to Narin Sultana, the woman who filed a case against him for posting her intimate pictures on social media for which he was arrested earlier this year.
On the other hand, Sunny is determined to make things work between both his wives. “We told the court that Sunny wants to keep both his wives,” Jewel Ahmed, Sunny's lawyer told the press. He also claimed that Nasrin has refused to live with Sunny unless he divorces his first wife – something the Bangladesh cricketer didn’t agree to.
In case you didn't know...
Arafat Sunny was arrested in January after Nasrin filed a case against him accusing him of creating a fake Facebook account in her name and posting her intimate pictures which were defamatory and offensive. He was later released in March on bail and was required to pay compensation to Nasrin as well as start a family with her.
Nasrin’s lawyers have now again moved the court to cancel his bail after he failed to keep his promises.
Sunny has accepted that he was married to Nasrin and it is not illegal as Bangladesh allows practising polygamy and men can take up to four wives. His lawyers have stated that Sunny wishes to keep both his wives – a term which is not acceptable to Nasrin.
The heart of the matter
When the case was initially filed, it was not known that the pair was married and the major revelation has churned up some new controversies for the Bangladeshi player. Although, Sunny's lawyers have stated that the player wishes to keep both his wives, that did not go very well with his second wife who is apparently determined to not stay with him unless he leaves his first wife and also refused to live in a rented apartment that he bought for her for the same reasons.
This scandal has invited a lot of trouble for the cricketer as it bears the potential of hampering his entire career. The court has demanded one of his lawyers to settle the dispute between the two and has set July 6 as the next date of hearing.
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What's next?
In case Sunny is found guilty of committing the alleged cyber crime, he could be jailed up to 14 years and fined 10 million takas ($125,000). The Bangladesh Cricket Board has also stated that he can be banned from Cricket if all accusations are proved true.
Author's Take
Involvement in any sort of crime directly condemns the discipline and code of conduct that the players are expected to abide by on and off-field. If Sunny was involved in the cyber fallacy as accused, justice demands him to be punished for the same. These acts don't remain personal because of the two major factors involved here.
Firstly, it is a direct invasion of someone's privacy. Secondly, it drags the name of the entire team or Cricket Board that the individual represents and letting go of them easily will set a wrong example for a sport that is termed to be a gentleman's game.
However, the other aspects of the story are better left without being commented upon. Let's see where is this cricketer headed amidst these turn of events.
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