Boys at Shahjahan’s age usually worry about studies and classes. But poverty forced the 14-year-old to take up a backbreaking job at a brick kiln in Comilla five months ago as his family struggled to make ends meet.
Shahjahan from Lakshmipur’s Komolnagar upazila is now writhing in pain in a hospital bed struggling for his life after going through five days of barbaric torture at the hands of his employer Belal Hossain.
Doctors at Komolnagar Upazila Health Complex said it would take quite some time for the boy to recover physically and mentally. Shahjahan’s small frame bears marks of searing with burning logs and countless beatings.
His father, day labourer Abdus Sobhan, said he had asked his son to look for work as it was difficult to maintain the family. Shahjahan took up a job at ABM Brick Kiln in Comilla’s Lalmai. On March 5, he sought wage from the employer saying he would not be able to do overtime.
Owner Belal fumed over the boy’s words and asked his brothers – Kamal Uddin and Gias Uddin – to tie Shahjahan up. He led the physical assault. For the next five days, the minor boy was chained and kept in a small room where he was repeatedly beaten up and his body was burned with burning logs.
Belal and his brothers could not be contacted for comments.
Shahjahan managed to flee from captivity on March 10 with the help of locals and returned home, Komolnagar Union Parishad member Abdul Karim said. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. The wounds on his body had by then turned to blisters.
The victim, his family and locals demanded justice and exemplary punishment of the offenders.
Komolnagar police station’s Officer-in-Charge Kabir Ahmmed said they would take legal actions after investigating the incident. He said they had advised Shahjahan’s family to file a case against the brick kiln owner and his brothers. But no case was filed until yesterday evening.
Child labour is rampant in Bangladesh where about 1.2 million children are employed in various sectors, according to the National Child Labour Survey report published in 2015, the ILO said in an article.
Most children work long hours in hazardous conditions and are paid little, leading to significant number of children to drop out of schools. According to the Labour Law of Bangladesh 2006, the minimum legal age for employment is 14, the UNICEF says, noting that enforcement of labour laws is virtually impossible as 93% of child labourers work in informal sectors.