24 children rescued from same factory

Twenty-four children were rescued yesterday from the Narayanganj factory where Sagar Barman had been brutally killed allegedly by management officials by pumping air into his body through the rectum.

The police handed over the child labourers, aged between 10 and 15 years, to their families, said ABMS Doha, sub-inspector of Rupganj Police Station.

Meanwhile, Nazmul Huda, 24, manager (administration) of Zobeda Textile and Spinning Mills where the 10-year-old victim had worked, was arrested in the case filed over Monday's incident, reports our local correspondent.

Following an autopsy of the victim, AKM Shafiuzzaman, assistant professor of Dhaka Medical College's forensic department, said, the body had abnormal swellings in the eyes, stomach and rectum, indicating that air had been pumped into it through the rectum with a hard object.

Viscera and blood of the victim were also collected to ascertain whether air or gas had been pumped into him, said Shafiuzzaman, adding that doctors found a rupture in Sagar's intestine.

Children of poor families from different parts of the country had been recruited in the factory for only Tk 1,500-1,600 a month, locals said. The children used to work in the manufacturing and maintenance of air pumping machines.

Both Sagar and his father Ratan Barman used to work at Jobeda Textile at Jatramura in Rupganj.

Ratan, in the case statement, said staff and officers of the factory used to beat workers for mistakes.

“My son used to protest the beatings, which made them [staffs and officers] angry. That's why they killed my son,” he said.

Ratan and his son Sagor lived in a rented house in Dighi Borabo area of Rupganj upazila. Sagor was the youngest among two brothers and one sister.

FACTORY MANAGEMENT SUED

Ratan filed the murder case last night with Rupganj Police Station accusing some management officials, said Jashim Uddin, an inspector of the police station.

The other accused are the factory's Production Manager Harun-ar-Rashid, 48; Senior Production Officer Azhar Imam alias Sohel, 36, and Assistant Production Manager Rashedul Islam, 40.

Additional Superintendent of Police Mohammad Zakaria said three factories owned by the same person had been set up inside a complex. Those are Zobeda Textile, Azharul Spinning Mills Ltd and Ekhlas Spinning Mills Ltd.

As many as 4,500 labourers, including 1,200 children, work in these factories, local people said.

Meanwhile, the Senior Judicial Magistrate's Court in Narayanganj granted police seven-day remand of the arrestee, Nazmul.