Six Bengal men exploited, detained in Malaysia after employer reneges on terms of job

Krishnanagar: Six men from Bengal who went to Malaysia in pursuit of better jobs are virtually in a state of confinement, with their passports snatched by their employer. Their families, who are from Bengal's Nadia district, claimed this while pleading with the government to intervene.

“He said they were being beaten up and not given sufficient food. I appeal to the government to bring him back soon,” claimed a family member of a victim while speaking to news agency PTI.

The six workers, who were allegedly assured of a job with a monthly salary of a whopping Rs 1.25 lakh, realised they had been conned once they reached Malaysia. The families claim the six men were supposed to pack fruits and work as gardeners. But upon reaching Malaysia, they were told they have to carry heavy sacks of fertilisers, claim the families. They claim further that the six men are not even allowed to call back their families.

But how do they know about the situation of the workers if they are incommunicado? Arabinda Mondal's wife Namita said, “Recently, he got a chance to call me.” That’s how the families realised their plight.

Arabinda Mondal, Biswajit Halder and four others of Muragacha Colony under the Hanskhali police station took loans at astronomically high interest rates to pay two agents and left for Malaysia on November 12 last year.

Biswajit Halder's mother Mamata said, “We have taken the loan from market against 5 percent monthly interest. The agent told us that Biswajit will work there for 2 years.”

“And now, they are kept in a small room with little food and treated like slaves,” Namita said.

Nadia district magistrate Sumit Gupta accepted that complaints have been received from the families and promised the matter would be looked into with the seriousness it deserves.

For the six families, it's a bad dream that refuses to end.

With PTI inputs
 

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