By AFP

A Bangladeshi court ruled Monday that national cricketer Shahadat Hossain and his wife should face trial for assaulting an 11-year-old girl they employed as a maid.

The 29-year-old pacer and his wife employed the child illegally and face up to 14 years in jail if they are convicted. They deny the charge.

"The judge indicted them for grievously hurting the maid and formally ordered their trial," prosecutor Ali Asgar Swapan told AFP after the decision at a special Dhaka court for women and children.

Police said Hossain, who has played 38 Tests for Bangladesh, and his wife had illegally assaulted and tortured the maid.

The cricketer, who denies any wrongdoing, was suspended from all forms of the game on September 13 over the allegations.

He and his wife went into hiding after police raided their house in September following a complaint from the young girl.

Police said one of her hands had been burnt with a hot cooking spoon, while other injury marks were also found on her body. Television footage showed her looking frail and thin with swollen black eyes.

Hossain, who has also played 51 one-day internationals for Bangladesh, handed himself into police in October after his wife was arrested.

In December he told AFP in an interview that the allegations were "false" and had ruined his career.

The trial will start on March 20, Swapan said.

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