Bangladesh cricketer Arafat Sunny indicted in dowry case, arrest warrant issued

What’s the story?

Bangladesh left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny has been indicted in the dowry case filed by his second wife in January this year and an arrest warrant has been issued against the cricketer after the 30-year-old failed to appear in the court for the hearing scheduled for Sunday.

While Sunny’s lawyer Muraduzzaman filed a petition before the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Zakir Hossain Tipu asking the indictment hearing to be postponed citing that Arafat was not well, the plea was dismissed.

Arafat is however still hopeful that the court will reconsider the decision.

"I am having chikungunya that had attacked the city (Dhaka) severely," Sunny told Cricbuzz on Sunday. "I had sent the medical reports to the court but probably my lawyer did not submit it and due to that it happened. I am confident the court will understand my position once the medical report is submitted."

In case you didn’t know...

Arafat is the third high profile Bangladesh cricketer to face legal trouble in recent years after pacemen Rubel Hossain and Shahadat Hossain.

A Bangladesh actress had accused Rubel of rape and not keeping up his promise of marriage that he made while they were having an "intimate affair" but later withdrew the case.

Shahadat meanwhile spent nearly two months in custody in 2016 after he and his wife were arrested on charges of torturing a minor girl whom they employed as a housemaid.

Extra Cover: Arafat Sunny admits to second wife; wants to keep both his wives

The heart of the matter

Arafat’s case, however, seems to be the most complex one as he was also accused of uploading sensitive pictures of the woman concerned on social media through a fake profile and was arrested under the Information and Communication Technology or ICT Act in January this year.

It was later on in the same month that 23-year-old Nasrin Sultana accused Arafat and his family of harassment citing a dowry amount of Taka 20 lakhs.

She had also alleged earlier that she was not aware that the cricketer was married earlier and Arafat was subsequently charged under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act.

Arafat received an ad-interim bail on April 6 in the dowry case but the same has now been cancelled as he failed to appear in court for the hearing on Sunday.

What’s next?

It has been a tough 12 months for Arafat both on and off the field as he has not played international cricket since the 2016 T20 World Cup where he was found guilty of possessing an illegal bowling action.

He suffered another setback when the same remark resurfaced during a domestic game in November 2016 but has since remodelled his action and is currently playing domestic first-class cricket for Dhaka Metropolis.

While his cricket may be back on track, he will be looking to use the medical loophole as the player himself and his lawyer pointed out, to get his way out of legal trouble in this case.

Author’s take

With accusations of uploading sensitive private pictures as well as hiding his status as a married individual already standing against him, the charges of harassment over dowry is something that could land Arafat in big trouble.

As the case is being dealt by the court it would be inappropriate to offer any comment on the particulars of the case but if he is indeed guilty, then there is no doubt that he should be handed the appropriate punishment.