The abuse and subsequent death of 15-year-old Preeti Urang is, unfortunately, not an unprecedented event in Bangladesh as there has always existed a deep-seated sickness in our society that dictates a certain level of disdain towards the underclass. Without a doubt, the ugliest manifestation of this disdain comes in the form of abuse, specifically the abuse of house help.
However, what is worse is that, in these situations, there is next to no chance of the victim being served any semblance of justice, as an inordinate amount of such cases are covered up, even when there is very clearly murder involved. At least 36 different cases involving the death of domestic helps were lodged in Bangladesh in the past three years, according to Ain O Salish Kendra, with 90% of them having succumbed to abuse while some had later resorted to self-termination.
This is a societal failure through and through.
While the case of Preeti Urang’s death and the role her employers played in it is still pending, it is high time that we had a national conversation on how we can better treat those who work for us, especially workers in the informal sector.
This is a sector where legal protections and worker rights are still completely absent, with workers often losing life and limb due to hazardous conditions and employee neglect, and often even abuse, being far too prevalent. Given the sheer size and scope of the informal sector -- which is estimated to be 30.2% which is approximately $324 billion in GDP per capita based on purchasing power parity levels, according to a World Economics from last year -- there is absolutely no reason why worker abuse in the informal sector should keep being the default.
We often decry the abject abuse being subjected to our overseas workers in places such as the Gulf nations, but fail to recognize that such abuse is also incredibly prevalent in our own country.
Preeti Urang and her family deserve justice, and so do the millions of other household help and others in the informal sectors.
