Bangladeshi Worker's Death In Malaysia
Family demands punishment of offenders
An uncertain future awaits the wife, children and mother of Mohesh.Photo: STAR
Family members of Mahesh Sarkar, the ill-fated Bangladeshi job seeker who died of cardiac arrest in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, have demanded immediate punishment of the people who are responsible for his tragic death. Mohesh Sarkar, 38, was one of the 55 Bangladesh workers scheduled to return home from Kuala Lumpur as their Malaysian employers failed to provide them with the promised jobs. After flying to Malaysia in February this year, Mohesh had been languishing in a Kuala Lumpur accommodation, rented by their Bangladeshi recruiting agency. Mohesh's mother and his widow wife along with her two minor daughters were crying when this correspondent visited their house at Parkhi village under Bir Basinda union in Kalihati upazila on Saturday. Mohesh along with Lal Miah, Latif Bepari, Tapan Chowdhury, Motiar and Sumon of the same village went to Malaysia with the help of local manpower traders (brokers) Shamsul Haque and Siddique Munshi, working on behalf of recruiting agency Golden Arrow in Dhaka, Mohesh's brother Krishna Sarkar, a betel leaf vendor, said. "They paid Tk 2.30 lakh per head on assurance of good jobs and high salary. But they did not get any job after reaching Malaysia," he said. Sumon of Pathrail village in Delduar in Tangail, who is also detained in Malaysia, informed Mohesh's brothers on Saturday over telephone that Mohesh died on Thursday morning. He had fallen ill due to torture and intake of scanty foods, relatives of Mohesh quoted Sumon as saying. "I want my son back," said Mohesh's mother Joshna Sarkar who lost consciousness several times. She demanded due punishment to the responsible recruiting agency and its brokers. Jharna Sarkar, widow of Mohesh, said her husband had told her over telephone about his sufferings after a few days of going to Malaysia. "Mohesh and other job seekers who were kept confined to a room did not have any regular food supply. They even had to eat raw vegetables. They were also tortured for minor protests," she said. She and her mother-in-law had gone to local manpower trader Shamsul Haque and requested him to bring Mohesh back to the country but he behaved very rudely and drove them out, she said. "My husband had to borrow money from several moneylenders on high interest to go to Malaysia. Now how will I survive with my two children?" she said. This correspondent could not contact Shamsul Haque. When contacted over phone, another manpower trader Siddique Munshi said, "We had informed the recruiting agency owner Mostafizur Rahman about Mohesh's condition but he did not take any effective step." Golden Arrow owner Mostafizur Rahman could not be contacted over cell phone despite repeated attempts.
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