Gazipur: A housewife has been tortured by a local influential man at Chota Latifpur village in Kaliakoir upazila for refusing his indecent proposal.

The incident has triggered an outcry after the video footage of the torture went viral on social networking site Facebook.

The victim was identified as Josna Akhter, wife of Bulbul Miah, and a mother of two children.

Victim’s son Nayan claimed that Matabbar (village headman) Jalal Uddin used to harass his mother, a garment worker, with an ill intention.

On Monday morning, Jalal called the housewife to his house following a land dispute between her and her cousin Hossain Khan of the locality.

As the victim refused to go there, Jalal along with Hossain swooped on their house in the evening when the male inmates were outside.

‘When I rushed in on information, I saw Jalal Matabbar and Hossain Khan dragging my mother to their yard by hair. At one stage, they beat her with sticks,’ Nayan said.

He also alleged that the perpetrators held him tightly when he went to save her mother. ‘They left the place when my mother became unconscious following inhuman torture,’ he described.

Later, the victim was taken to Kaliakoir Upazila Health Complex.

Talking to reporters at the hospital, the victim alleged that Jalal tried to sexually harass her. ‘As Jalal failed to do so, he along with Hossain Khan dragged me out of my house by holding my hair and beat me mercilessly in public.’

Pabitra Kumar, duty doctor at the Upazila Health Complex, said there were several injury marks on Josna’s body.

Contacted, Jalal confessed to beating the housewife, saying he meted out punishment to her as she obstructed her cousin Hossain from erecting walls around his grandfather’s grave.

He, however, denied the allegation of sexually harassing the housewife.

Kaliakoir police officer-in-charge Omar Faruk said a case was filed against Jalal and two others in this connection.