Beaten and threatened, freelancer seeks help
"What was my fault?"
Lying on a hospital bed, Mahmudul Hasan, a 33-year-old, was asking this to his relatives and everyone who came to see him, but got no response.
After trying his luck in the job market in the capital, he had the courage to go back to his village and start freelancing to make ends meet.
His dedication and hard work paid off. According to the 33-year-old, he now earns Tk 2-3 lakh every month.
And his success caught the attention of some rogue local youths who beat him up mercilessly a few days ago, after failing to extort money from him.
The incident happened in Mandolerhat village under Gokunda union of Lalmonirhat Sadar on May 28. Ershadul Alam, officer-in-charge of Lalmonirhat Sadar Police Station, confirmed it to this reporter.
Talking to this reporter, an emotional Mahmudul said he bought five decimals of land in January to realise his dream of starting a freelancing institute in his village to provide training to the unemployed youths of the area.
"I want to start the institute for the unemployed youth of the village and to open up an honourable avenue of earning for them," he said.
Mahmudul Hasan, who has BBA and MBA degrees from a private university, said he quit his job at a private company in 2020 and started freelancing. As his outsourcing job was going well, he decided to move back to his village.
"Returning to my village, I found many educated youths here were depressed. Considering the job market, I felt the urge to help them. The idea of a freelancing institute came from there," said Mahmudul adding that freelancing is one of the legitimate ways of earning money honestly.
He said he has already trained nearly 50 youths on freelancing.
Mahmudul said when he started the construction work of the institute on May 20, some derailed local youths approached him for extortion money.
"Not getting what they wanted, they beat me up mercilessly on May 28," he said adding the miscreants also damaged his property and took away construction materials, including tin roofs and bricks.
Mahmudul's father Jahir Uddin filed a written complaint with Lalmonirhat Sadar Police Station on the same day in this regard.
"Fearing more assault from those derailed youths, now I cannot resume work. Though we have complained to the police, the situation is far from being resolved," said Mahmudul.
Jahir Uddin said some identified and known miscreants are trying to foil his son's noble initiative which would help hundreds of youths. He said police are not taking action against those miscreants.
OC Ershadul Alam told The Daily Star that the police are investigating the incident and legal action will be taken against those if found guilty.
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