Dhaka: The native home of Rina (Pseudonym) is just two hours journey from Dhaka city. She left the school at the age of fourteen.

Because, she said ‘father’s health was not going well. I voluntarily left the school rather I wanted to work for earning’.

In 2012, one Bangladeshi took her to Malaysia in student visa.

Later, she became victim of the cruel torture of the owner and her wife. At some opportune moment Rina came out of the house with blood stained body.

Recently, Rina gave her horrifying experience in a documentary titled ‘I am not here’ filmed by United Nations Human Rights.

The Malaysian NGO Tenaganita working with the migrated workers is contesting a case against the torture on Rina.

The victim describing her ghastly experience said in the film, ‘I never got back my passport in Malaysia. I saw it in a bag. The owner told me that he made all the expenses right from the ticket fair of Biman. All the expenses will be adjusted from my salary’.

Director of Tenaganita and Consultant (Human Trafficking) Eizel Fernandez said that the passport must be with the employee. But the torturers kept it with them.

According to Rina, the family consists of four including two children. Apparently the family was looking good. The owner was a Bangladeshi like me but he married a Malayan woman.

From the very beginning she gave a heart breaking experience.

Rina said, ‘At one night I changed the diaper of the youngest kid followed by torture. The male owner caught me tightly and his wife forcefully put off my trouser and poured boiled water into my private parts’.

The torture did not stop there.

She narrated, ‘They often put off my dresses and pictured my nude body with the threat that if I do not obey them accordingly then these nude pictures would be uploaded in the internet that would be shameful for your parents and also to the villagers’.

Her description of torture also said, ‘they put powder of chili on her whole body at least thrice even they pressed chili into my private parts’.

‘They also forced me to eat chili and when refused they beat me severely. This forceful swallow of chili caused vomiting. Even they forced me to take back the vomiting materials into my mouth.’

Rina said that they even pushed stick into my private parts forcefully. The stick was moved to and fro into my private parts.

Tenaganita program manager Liva Sreedharan said that ‘her private parts got serious injury due to pushing the stick’.

Rina said that, ‘my urinary tract and rectum got a joint. I could not flee from the house. In the morning I found that my bed is filled with pool of blood. They told me to clean everything by water’.

Eizel opined that the accused exploited the girl by keeping the passport with them. They gave threats that if she tries to go out then the immigration police would catch her and send her to detention camp where she will be tortured more.

Rina told that, ‘my private parts got so much damaged that I had to use diaper to check profuse bleeding.’

Liva said that Rina had to stay in hospital to repair her private parts.

Tenaganita senior program officer of Ashiqur Rahman told banglanews on Wednesday morning Rina fled away from the house arising out of the situation which she could not bear. From there an Indonesian hotel boy took her to a hospital in an unconscious condition.

Rina stayed in that house less than one year.

Rina said, ‘I had to undergo several tests of stomach and private parts because there was severe bleeding. I did not know what happened to me but the doctors were looking anxious’. 

Eizel Fernandez said that ‘three major operations were performed on Rina - in the stomach, vagina and in the ear. The torturers hit severely on her ear’.

Rina said, ‘if I die it is okay but don’t want to go back there.’

She informed the media, ‘when in hospital bed the owner’s mother-law and sister-in-law came to see me. They tried to make talks with the owner.

According to Eizel the owner was very rich and influential man in society. So the society will give more importance to them rather the migrated worker.

Rina further said, ‘the owner threat me in the language that do you think am in the jail? I am very much free. I have got money, so everybody will be with me. I don’t want to bring you to litigation. You cannot do any harm to me. I will manage everybody by spending money’.

The victim continued, ‘after few days a chairman of our area came to see me. My mother told him to meet me. I narrated him the whole painful episode to him. He talked to the doctors and advised me file a suit’.

Eizel informed the media that the owners tried to foil the case.

Rina said, ‘I was in the shelter of Tenaganita for fourteen days. Police took me to their camp. One day one Mimi, an employee of the government shelter home told me to sign two papers – one blank and another with something written. She forced me sign those papers’.

Eizel learnt from the court that the tortured girl has withdrawn the case. But it cannot be. An under aged girl will withdraw her case. How it can be allowed?

Rina lamented, ‘I want to send some money to my family. I have been here for three years but I could not send any money to them.’

Ashiq said Tenaganita is taking preparation to file another case after collecting necessary data.

BDST: 1954 HRS, OCT 28, 2015
Shahjahan/RR/SMS