Dhaka – A Bangladeshi court is scheduled to pass verdict Sunday in a criminal case against national cricketer Shahadat Hossain for his alleged involvement in torturing a house-help, officials said on Monday.

Hossain and his wife Jesmin Jahan were accused of torturing a minor girl, who used to work as a domestic help, at their home in Dhaka’s Mirpur neighbourhood.

A special court trying the cases related to violence against women and children accepted the charges against national team cricketer Shahadat Hossain and his wife Jesmin Jahan in February this year.

On completion of the argument from both prosecution and defence, Judge Tanjina Ismail of the Fifth Tribunal for Prevention of Women and Children Repression fixed the date for verdict on November 6.

Investigators submitted an indictment to the court against the couple in late December. They were granted bail .

The case came to light in September 2015 after a passerby took the 11-year-old maid to police in Mirpur. The girl accused the cricketer and his wife of regularly torturing her, according to investigators.

If convicted Shahadat and his wife, although they pleaded not guilty, could face a maximum of 14 years’ imprisonment as well as financial penalties.

The cricketer, who last played for Bangladesh in May, was suspended from the national team by the national cricket board after the allegations surfaced.

Underage boys and girls from poor families are often engaged as domestic help to well-off families in Bangladesh.

On October 27, Shahadat and his wife pleaded not guilty and demanded justice after the court read out the charges to them.

Police on October 4, 2015 arrested Shahadat’s wife in the capital’s Malibagh area. Shahadat surrendered before the court on the following day.

Police on December 27, 2015 pressed charges against Shahadat and Jahan in the case.

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