Popular singer Mainul Ahsan Noble, known for his participation in West Bengal’s music show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, has been accused of confining and repeatedly raping an Eden College student for seven months, leaving her four months pregnant.
The allegations surfaced after Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Judge Zia Uddin Ahmed sent Noble to jail on Tuesday following a police petition under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act.
Md Talebur Rahman, deputy commissioner (media and public relations) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, confirmed Noble’s arrest.
Demra Police Station Inspector Murad Hossain detailed in court that the victim, a former student at Eden Mohila College, first met the accused through social media and was lured to Noble’s Demra residence on November 12 last year under the false pretext of visiting his music studio.
Raped and recorded
According to the case filings, Noble and accomplices allegedly confiscated the victim’s phone, destroyed her Redmi 10 Pro (worth Tk 26,000) when she demanded to contact her family, and confined her.
The singer allegedly raped her, recorded the act of assault, and threatened to leak the footage online if she resisted.
According to initial reporting, a video went viral of a woman, allegedly being dragged by her hair between rooms by Noble on social media. The woman’s parents reportedly identified her in the social media video and alerted the national emergency service (999), leading to her rescue on May 19 and Noble’s arrest hours later.
Police are investigating additional charges under the Pornography Control Act for filming the alleged rape. Noble attempted to flee by renting a microbus but was intercepted near the border, said Demra OC Mahmudur Rahman to Prothom Alo.
Noble’s counsel, Jasim Uddin, claimed in court that the woman was his client’s wife and that the case stemmed from a “misunderstanding.” He argued Noble wished to reconcile and that the victim was four months pregnant, though no marriage certificate was presented.
The court rejected these claims and denied bail.
History of aggression
This marks Noble’s second arrest in two years; he was previously detained on the same day (May 20) in 2023 for fraud after taking money for an event he never attended. His personal life, including multiple short-lived marriages — one with actress Salsabil Mahmud in 2019 — has often drawn public scrutiny.
In 2022, a legal notice was served to Noble for making offensive remarks against Bangladesh national anthem’s writer Rabindranath Tagore.