Back home after 6-month ordeal
He dreamt of making his fortune abroad, but the dream never came true.
Shohag Khan of Dhupabila village in Jhenidah Sadar upazila met manpower broker Kalam of the neighbouring Natabaria village to express willingness to go abroad.
“Kalam said I had to pay him Tk 2.5 lakh only after reaching Malaysia. He warned me not to disclose it to others,” Shohag told The Daily Star.
The 28-year-old painter returned home on May 24 after enduring a terrible ordeal of six months. “I never thought I could meet my family again. It's only the mercy of Allah that I'm still alive.”
He came home after availing a travel permit from the Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur. But his cousin Saiful Khan, 22, who accompanied him to Malaysia, is still missing.
The two left Jhenidah and reached Chakaria upazila of Cox's Bazar on November 30 last year. A man received the duo and took them to a hotel where they stayed for two days.
“Chakaria police detained us along with five others at the hotel. But we were freed after the brokers paid the cops Tk 11,000,” said Shohag.
Within a few days, around 40 others from across the country joined them. On December 15, they were taken to the Bay of Bengal by a small fishing boat.
“Our perilous journey by the sea began. In the first few days, we only got some rice and green chillies to eat. Later, we were given some puffed rice. If anybody wanted something more, they were beaten up brutally,” added the victim.
After spending three weeks in the sea, they were boarded on a big ship on January 9. Around 900 others were in the vessel.
The traffickers, mostly from Bangladesh and Myanmar, forced one of the fortune seekers to slit open the abdomen of his own brother who died on board, said Shohag. “The man had to do it and throw away the body into the sea just to save his own life.”
Four women and two men died on board due to hunger and torture.
By the end of February, the vessel anchored near an island. The brokers then divided the victims in several groups and took them into a jungle.
The two cousins tried to flee from the jungle, but in vain. They were caught by guards.
Shohag couldn't contact his family for around three months. He requested a trafficker to help him call his mother. “The traffickers would not give me the chance. They only allowed me to talk to Kalam. I sought his help to end the captivity.”
On March 5, Kalam arranged his journey to Malaysia upon assurance that he would pay the broker the money.
“Our two families in the mean time paid Kalam's wife Tk 2.5 lakh for each of us in phases,” said Shohag.
He was quite happy to reach Malaysia. But soon he observed that he was in captivity of a new group of traffickers.
Traffickers started torturing Shohag for ransom. They had cigarettes stubbed out on his face and back.
After failing to get the ransom, the traffickers forced Shohag to work as a painter. Around two months later, he met his neighbour Titu Hossain who has been in Malaysia for long.
“After hearing about my ordeal, he arranged my trip to home. I called my mother and asked her to send money for buying an air ticket,” Shohag mentioned.
On May 27, he went to Jhenidah Sadar Police Station to file a case against Kalam. But police asked him to go to a local court.
Jahir Uddin, officer-in-charge (investigation) at the police station, said they asked the victim to file the case with a court to make its investigation easier.
Shohag on June 9 sued Kalam in a Jhenidah court for his six-month ordeal and financial losses. He claimed that Kalam was in his village.
He demanded that law enforcers arrest the accused and ensure his exemplary punishment.
Despite repeated efforts, this newspaper could not reach Kalam over the phone for his comment.
According to the National Security Intelligence, 40 trafficking victims from Shailakupa upazila, 35 from Harinakundu, 15 from Kaliganj, six from Maheshpur and four from Courtchandpur upazilas of Jhenidah have been missing for around seven months.
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