Household workers rescued Monday from the flat of an additional district judge have spoken to law enforcement officials about the ordeal they claim to have endured at the hands of their employer and his wife.
The three children, Fatema Akhter, 13, Kulsum Begum, 12, and Mohammad Shamim, 11, are all related to one another and come from Mymensingh.
Fatema told the Dhaka Tribune: “My employer beat me for simple mistakes. Whenever she found dust on the furniture or clothes, she beat me with an iron rod. She poured hot water on me twice and I have injury marks on my hands.”
“I started working a year ago. She beat me everyday. She did not allow me to talk to my parents. When my parents visited, she allowed me to meet them but stayed with us, so that I could not tell them about the beatings. She threatened me, saying if I told anyone about it she would not allow me to eat for two days.”
“On Sunday, she beat me with an iron rod. Is being a domestic help a sin?” Fatema asked.
Law enforcers rescued the three domestic helpers, who worked for Additional District Judge of Narayanganj Niazi Shahidul Alam Chowdhury and his wife Shamima Shahid, from the capital’s Shantinagar area.
Moshiur Rahman, Officer-in-Charge of Ramna police station said: “The employer has denied the allegations.”
The trio were rescued by fire service and police personnel around 3pm from a sun shed outside a third-floor flat of the multi-storey building.
The three children had climbed down a drain-pipe from the sixth-floor of the building.
Kulsum Begum told the Dhaka Tribune: “My employer did not provide us with food regularly. She gave us food once or sometimes twice a day but it was not palatable. She gave us rotten food to eat. Sometimes, we would throw the food away.”
Kulsum said: “She verbally abused us along with our parents. She did not send us to our parents during the Eid vacation. She gave us new dresses at Eid and then took them away from us.”
The rescued domestic workers were taken to the Victim Support Centre (VSC) after receiving treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Later, they were taken by officials of the Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers’ Association (BNWLA).
Officials of the VSC said their parents had been contacted but had not yet come to collect them.
Sub-Inspector Monjur Alam told the Dhaka Tribune: “Mohammad Shamim was taken yesterday by Aparajeyo Bangladesh, an NGO. No case was filed in this regard.”
Salma Ali, executive director of BNWLA, told the Dhaka Tribune: “After bringing them here, if we consider that they need medical support, then we admit them to the one-stop crisis centre. Most often, family members do not want to file cases against the offenders so they are not punished. Sometimes the offenders and the victims come to a mutual understanding and avoid filing cases.”
