Death of Kulsum: Two arrested, recruiting agency raided by Rab

Rapid Action Batallion today arrested two people including a recruiting agency owner from Dhaka's Fakirapool area in connection with the death of 14-year-old Umme Kulsum, who was sent to Saudi Arabia as house help and was tortured to death by her employer there.

The arrestees are Mokbul Hossain, owner of MH Trader International, and his associate Parvez, said Additional Superintendent of Police Bina Rani Das of Rab -3. They were arrested during a drive at their recruiting agency office.

The recruiting agency last year sent Kulsum, a 14-year-girl from Brahmanbaria, to Saudia Arabia as house help, said Das.

"Even though the minimum legal age a female migrant worker has to be is 25, the agency hid her age and sent her to work abroad," she said.

Kulsum was shown to be 25 years old with false information in her passport, as anyone below the age of 25 cannot be sent Saudi Arabia as a domestic worker.

Kulsum was tortured by her employer there and subsequently died at a hospital on August 9 this year. Her body was brought back home on September 12.

"We will be charging the agency with human trafficking, under the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act, for knowingly sending a minor girl to be exploited," said ASP Das.

"We are also investigating this agency to see how many other people were trafficked by them," she added.

As the drive went on, Manpower Recruiting Agencies Oikko Parishad convener Tipu Sultan staged a protest outside the agency's Fakirapool office, claiming that they cannot be arrested as traffickers.

"We cannot be culpable for the crimes of the employers," he claimed, "We want this law to be repealed."