Pune: Police Station Becomes Shelter For Bangladeshi Couple Awaiting

Budhwar Peth, 11th August 2021: A couple from Bangladesh are forced to stay at Faraskhana police station in Pune for almost two months. The Police are bearing the full cost of living. Both of them had come to Pune about three years ago with the help of an agent and got caught by the police due to a lack of complete papers here.

Mohammad Mandal said that an agent had brought him from Bangladesh to Pune to get a job and locked him up after bringing him to a house in the red light area of Budhwar Peth. The agent wanted the woman to be part of prostitution in the red light area of Pune. When she refused, the agent threatened to send her to jail and somehow the matter reached the police. After that the police caught them.

Majida said, “We had come here for a job leaving our two young children and got stuck here. Had we known, we would not have come here without a passport or visa. The agent brought us here and started asking for two lakh rupees. We didn’t have money and when we didn’t pay, he gave our information to the police. In our family, only my husband was the breadwinner and he too is in jail for two and a half years. My children are suffering there and we want us to be sent back as soon as possible.”

The matter went to court and the court sentenced both of them to two years of imprisonment. Their sentence ended in June and after leaving Yerwada Jail, they came to the police station. For the last two months, the Pune Police team has been continuously appealing to the Bangladesh High Commission to take them back, but due to the delay in paperwork, the matter is continuously pending.

Police Inspector Rajendra Landge of Faraskhana police station said, “Mohammad Mandal and Majida Mandal are residents of Khulna district of Bangladesh. They had come to Pune on 26 June 2019 and were living in the Budhwar Peth area. We got information that they have come to India without valid papers. After this, our team arrested both of them under relevant charges. After the matter went to court, the couple was sentenced to two years of imprisonment. On June 14, their sentence was completed and the court asked the Pune Police to send them back to Bangladesh.”

He further said, “For the last two months we have been continuously contacting the Bangladesh High Commission, but no response has come from there. We are allowing them to stay on our premises following the order of the court. We are also arranging for their food requirements.”

The husband and wife offer prayers in the police station itself. On the occasion of Bakrid, they were given new clothes by the police. They have two children in Bangladesh and the couple wants to go back to them.

Even after more than two years, the police could not trace the agent who had brought them to India. After leaving the jail, the husband and wife talked to their children through video calls.

According to Majida, both are living with a member of his family. The Mandal couple is very appreciative of the effort of the Pune Police and hopes that they will be able to go back to their homes soon.