Bangladeshi Woman in Bihar Awaits Returning Home for Last 18 Months
Representational Image. Image Courtesy: Hindustan
Patna: Riya Afreen Rupa has been languishing at the Bihar Institute of Correctional Administration (BICA), in Hajipur, the headquarters of Vaishali district, for the last 18 months to return to her home country of Bangladesh.
After spending one year in jail in Bihar for entering the country illegally without a proper passport and visa, the 27-year-old Bangladeshi’s hope to reunite with her children and the family has become a dream due to official apathy.
As per the official process, Rupa’s identity proof and documentation work have to be authenticated by the state home department and the Union home ministry through the Bangladesh High Commission before her return.
“It is really shocking that a Bangladeshi woman who had served imprisonment for entering illegally and was released last year has yet to return to her country. This is an example of human rights violation,” a source at BICA told Newsclick.
Muzaffarpur-based human rights lawyer Subodh Kumar Jha recalled that Rupa, a mother of two minor boys, was lodged at Biharsharif Jail, in Nalanda district, for more than four months even after completion of her sentence on January 22, 2021. “She was released only after the Bihar Human Rights Commission intervened upon my request and shifted to BICA in August 2021,” Jha, who has also approached the National Human Rights Commission, told Newsclick.
“Rupa was arrested on December 5, 2019, when she was found roaming suspiciously in Ahiyapur area, under the Noorsarai Police Station, in Nalanda, for illegal entry into the country. A local court sentenced her to one-year imprisonment along with seven days’ additional imprisonment for being unable to pay Rs 500 fine,” Jha further said.
At the time of her arrest, according to Jha, Rupa had an identity card bearing her name, her husband’s name, residential address and the district’s name in Bengali language.
According to the police, Rupa said in her statement that she is extremely poor and couldn’t afford the treatment of one of her ailing sons. Subsequently, a Bangladeshi man known to her “promised to arrange money and a job in India”. However, he “trafficked her to Kolkata” and left her on the streets to fight for survival. Later, she boarded a train to Nalanda she was begging for food and money.
Get the latest reports & analysis with people's perspective on Protests, movements & deep analytical videos, discussions of the current affairs in your Telegram app. Subscribe to NewsClick's Telegram channel & get Real-Time updates on stories, as they get published on our website.
