DHAKA: The eldest son and heir apparent of two times former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia was partially paralyzed when tortured in custody, doctors said yesterday.
Tareque Rahman was strung up blindfolded in a dark room, then dropped down onto a cement floor, fracturing two bones in his back, a doctor who treated him quoted from his medical report.
Rahman was partially paralyzed by the impact of the fall, which has resulted in “gradual wasting of his right lower limbs,” Kazi Mazharul Islam Dolon said. “He cannot stand for more than three to four minutes because of the acute pain due to the compression fracture. He has been on painkillers ever since he was admitted in hospital in January.”
Rahman has been detained since March last year on graft charges after the government launched an anti-corruption crackdown. In June his lawyer told a court that Rahman had been energetic and fit before he was arrested, but was now physically unable to appear in court.
Serajuddin Ahmed, the doctor who headed three medical teams that treated Rahman, said Zia’s eldest son was injured 10 to 11 months ago when he was in police custody.
