Desi Father Jailed After 'Branding' Wife with Hot Oil in Bangladesh Land Dispute

key takeaways

Small Heath Resident Raju Mollah Handed 26-Year Sentence for Attempted Murder Following Calculated Domestic Assault Over Overseas Property-A dispute over ancestral land in Bangladesh has resulted in a 26-year prison sentence for a Birmingham man who attempted to murder his wife by "branding" her with boiling oil in a premeditated domestic attack, Daily Dazzling Dawn understand.

The motive behind the horrific violence at the family home in Heather Road, Small Heath, was a bitter disagreement regarding a property in Bangladesh. Raju Mollah, 50, had previously transferred the deed of the Bangladeshi asset to his wife, Mosammed Mumtaz. However, as their 23-year marriage reached a breaking point in December 2024, Mollah demanded a divorce and the return of the property. When Mrs. Mumtaz refused to relinquish the land, the conflict escalated into a lethal plot. This case highlights how overseas assets can become a focal point for extreme domestic coercion within the diaspora.

British Bangladeshi Survivor Challenges NHS ‘Scientific Detachment’

On the evening of January 12, 2025, while Mrs. Mumtaz was feeling unwell and washing utensils with her back turned, Mollah acted with chilling composure. Having pre-heated a large quantity of cooking oil, he poured the scalding liquid over her head without warning. He then seized a red-hot skillet from the gas stove and pressed it into her face—an act Judge Richard Bond characterized as a "form of branding" intended to permanently disfigure her. The assault continued as Mollah used a mop to smother her and repeatedly stamped on her head while she lay conscious in a pool of oil.

The fallout has been compounded by cultural pressures within the victim's social circle. Mrs. Mumtaz told a journalist that since choosing to seek justice, she has been shunned by many friends who supported her husband to preserve "family honor." This secondary trauma has left the mother of three a "prisoner in her own home," unable to look at her reflection and forced to abandon her dreams of a teaching career. Despite this, she noted that her legal freedom from Mollah is the only reprieve from the "evil, nasty thing" he did.

At Birmingham Crown Court on April 24, 2026, it was revealed that Mollah attempted to manipulate the legal process from his cell, writing letters to his wife to coerce her into withdrawing her testimony. Judge Bond dismissed any notion of the event being an accident, citing the "horrific" and "permanent" nature of the injuries. Mollah was told he would serve a minimum of 17 years and four months before being eligible for release. An indefinite restraining order was also imposed to protect Mrs. Mumtaz and their youngest children.