KOZHIKODE: The campaign for the release of Bangladeshi sex-trade victim Ayesha Siddiki has helped many other Bangladeshi citizens trapped in jails in the state. Thanks to the intervention by the office of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Haseena which came to know about the book ‘Njan Enna Murivu (I The Wound), released by Saya (the pen name of Ayesha) with the help of ‘Arm of Joy,’ an organisation based in city.
The officials stayed here for a few days and visited the girls’ home and prison and met some victims in Kochi, it is learnt. Anoop Gangadharan of ‘Arm of Joy’ told Deccan Chronicle that the intervention of the Bangladesh diplomats will be more helpful in releasing the victims as well as sending them back to their native villages.
“The officials are still in touch with me and have promised to monitor the release and rehabilitation of the Bangladeshi victims in prisons in the state”, he added.
There are four girls and a boy from Bangladesh still trapped in the juvenile home here, according to officials. The boy and his relatives were taken into custody by police as they were found without valid documents.
The relatives are in prison whereas the boy is in the juvenile home. The four girls were rescued either by police or by activists in incidents of sexual exploitations and abuse.
District Collector N. Prashanth told DC that the issue of the remaining Bangladeshi victims was quite different. “The hapless women have neither valid documents nor reliable relatives ready to receive them”, he pointed out.
“We can’t dump them back somewhere but if relatives or the right authorities turn up with a helping hand we are ready to assist”, he added.
