Aug. 26: City police today arrested a government engineer, Mustafa Farid Hussain Laskar, on charges of torturing his wife.

A police officer said Laskar, 35, was arrested from his residence on Khanka Mosque Road at Sijubari this morning.

He said the accused is an assistant executive engineer of the state water resources department’s Block B in Dispur.

A case (number 71/2008) was registered against him under Section 498-A IPC at Hatigaon police station.

The case was registered against him after his wife Wahida Rahman, 33, lodged a complaint with the police alleging that he harassed her, demanding money from her parents.

The officer said they have registered the case under Section 498-A IPC because it deals with subjecting a woman to cruelty by her husband or relative(s) of the husband.

“Under this particular legislation, whoever subjects a woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term, which may extend up to three years and shall be liable to be fined,” he said.

The source said the accused was sent to judicial custody after he was produced in court this afternoon.

According to the police source, the couple got married in 1997.

The police are conducting further investigation in the case.

The police officer said the couple was in a troubled marriage for the past several months.

“The engineer and his parents were arrested in June this year after his wife filed an FIR at the All Woman Police Station, accusing them of harassing her,” he said.

“They were later released on bail and after that the couple were reconciled. The couple again started staying together for the past couple of weeks,” the source said.

The problem started again on Sunday night when Laskar had a fight with his wife and allegedly assaulted her.

According to his wife, he threatened to kill her.

“Yesterday, she again left her husband’s home and then lodged a complaint at Hatigaon police station,” the officer said.

He added that domestic discord arising out of marital tiffs is on the rise in the city.

“The incidents of wives being harassed by their husbands and approaching the police are also on the rise. But the police cannot solve these domestic problems. At best, we can arrest the accused and put him behind bars but we cannot save their marriage from deteriorating. The cases of divorces are also on the rise,” he said.

According to him, the counselling of estranged couples could help to reduce family and marital disputes.