Sexually abused, trafficked female worker rescued in Malaysia
Dreaming of a better future, Bithi (not her real name) left for Malaysia 11 days ago to secure a well-paid job.
But the 20-year-old had no idea what danger lurked within. She was sexually abused over 20 times in just four days by eight men.
She was targeted by a human trafficking gang.
She was sharing her ordeal with The Daily Star after returning home yesterday morning.
The brokers lured Bithi promising with a better job and boarded her to Malaysia on tourist visa on January 18. But a day after reaching there, she was forced to have sex with the human traffickers.
She used to work at a garment factory in Mirpur. About six months ago, she met two youths -- Mofizur Rahman Raja and Topu.
She alleged that Raja often followed her in front of her workplace at lunch time.
The two told her that they would arrange a job for her in Malaysia with a monthly salary of Tk 20,000. They demanded Tk 1.5 lakh from her as migration cost.
Tempted by the offer, she asked her mother to manage the amount. Her mother collected the money by selling gold jewellery and a piece of land.
Bithi did not have a national ID card and passport. She paid the duo another Tk 10,000 to arrange those.
Raja prepared a fake birth certificate for her and got a new passport with the name “Bithi”, showing her as his wife.
Raja along with Topu and Bithi boarded a flight to Malaysia on January 18. The trio travelled on tourist visas.
Reaching there in the early hours of the following day, she was taken to a hotel.
In the evening, she was shifted to a house where she met a foreigner and three Bangladeshi men. She was forced to have sex with them throughout the night.
The next morning, Bithi was moved to another house, where she met three of the trafficking gang -- Brishti, Anwar and Opu. They told her that she was sold to a Chinese man and from then on, she would have to be in sex trade.
Bithi called her mother back home on January 20 and informed her about the danger she was in.
The following day, the three gang members took Bithi to a trip nearby and later booked a hotel room. She was confined to the room and forced to have sex with Anwar and Opu.
“Brishti filmed all these with a camera,” Bithi alleged.
Around midnight on January 24, Opu took Brishti to a clinic as she fell sick. Opu wanted to introduce Bithi as her wife at the clinic, but she refused and shouted.
Opu got scared at this and fled the clinic.
Bithi soon took shelter in the toilet of a nearby garage. She then called her husband back home.
Back home, Bithi's family members contacted Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) on January 23. Officials of the rights organisation subsequently communicated with Harun ur Rashid, a labour rights activist in Malaysia, and sent him copies of Bithi's passport, photo and the contact number.
The following day, Harun traced Bithi and took her to a shelter centre run by “Tenaganita”, which works for rights of women, migrants and refugees.
She had been at the shelter home until Sunday.
According to the victim, Raja owns a showroom of electronics goods in Kadamtoli area of Keraniganj.
With her dream shattered, Bithi demanded the government mete out exemplary punishment to her abusers and human traffickers.
Nur Khan, executive director of the ASK, said they will give assistance to the victim if she lodges a case in this connection.
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