Caught at IB by BSF, trafficked B’desh women narrate ordeal

Kolkata: Two Bangladeshi women were apprehended by BSF’s South Bengal Frontier close to Tarali BOP in North 24 Parganas while attempting to cross the International Border illegally on Saturday.
The duo narrated heart-rending stories of how they had left poverty-ridden homes and were trafficked to India with the promise of respectable employment, only to end up as sex workers.
“I am a divorcee and turned into a financial burden for my family. My grandmother is a cancer patient and money is required for her treatment. I approached an ‘agent’ in Dhaka who promised me a job with a good salary as a housekeeping staffer or caretaker in India. Nearly a year ago, I was brought across the border and handed over to a person who took me to Grant Road in Mumbai. For the next four months, I was confined there and raped by several people,” said Aisha (name changed) of Mymensingh.
“I escaped and started living in Malad. I also visited Bangladesh once. I realised that my family needed money and this time, took to sex work. I travelled to Gujarat and worked at a spa in Surat and a hotel in Ahmedabad. I was trying to return home for a short trip with the help of touts but was caught by BSF,” the 23-year-old added.
Sania (name changed) is a teenager and left her home in Kurigram about nine months ago with a friend to work as a hairdresser. Once across the border, a tout sold her into a sex work racket in Mumbai. Since then, she has travelled to cities like Visakhapatnam, Bengaluru, Udaipur and Kolkata. She was always escorted and was too afraid to raise her voice, fearing Indian authorities would throw her behind bars. On hearing her mother had fallen ill, Sania paid touts to make it back to Bangladesh but got caught.
The women underwent counselling by an NGO and the anti-human trafficking unit before being handed over to Swarupnagar police station.