Raped, tortured and jailed
When Rima, not her real name, left for Saudi Arabia ahead of Eid-ul-Azha last year, she believed she had secured a company job with a monthly salary of 1,000 riyals, with food and accommodation included.
Instead, she says she was sold, starved, raped, and jailed.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Now six months pregnant, the 32-year-old returned to Bangladesh on February 9 and is staying at the Brac Migration Programme’s learning centre at Ashkona Hajj Camp in Uttara after seeking help from airport authorities.
“I did not go abroad for money. I had no debt. I just wanted a decent job,” Rima told The Daily Star.
“If they could not give me work, they could have sent me back. Why did they destroy my life?”
Rima said a local broker in Dhaka arranged her visa, promising a company job.
She does not know how much was paid for her recruitment, as all the costs were borne by the Bangladeshi woman for whom she works as domestic help.
After arriving in Saudi Arabia with two other women, she was kept in an office for three days without proper food before being sent to a household.
“They locked the fridge. Even rice was under lock and key. They gave me one piece of flatbread and an egg for the whole day. I worked 24 hours,” she said.
When she asked to return to the office, her employer allegedly told her they had paid 10,000 riyals to “buy” her and would not let her go.
After months of abuse, Rima fled to Madinah and later to Makkah, hoping to surrender to the police and be deported.
She was detained briefly but released. Later, she said, she was deceived again by a Bangladeshi woman who promised her work but forced her into prostitution without pay.
“When I refused to continue prostitution and wanted the money, they locked me in a room and tortured and raped me,” she said.
She also alleged that a driver associated with her employer raped her before handing her over to the police.
Rima was later jailed for five months on theft charges filed by her employer.
“In jail, they beat me and gave me electric shocks. I kept saying I stole nothing,” she said, showing marks on her arms. During detention, medical tests revealed she was pregnant.
“I have no parents. I grew up in an orphanage. Where will I go now?” she asked. “I survived to return home. But how will I live with this child? Who will accept me?”
With no family to receive her at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, she sought help from the Armed Police Battalion and was referred to Brac.
According to Brac Migration Programme data, at least six women have returned from Saudi Arabia while pregnant after facing abuse.
Separate data show that at least 157 migrant workers returned to Bangladesh over the past six years after experiencing sexual or physical assault abroad.
Shariful Hasan, associate director at the Brac Migration Programme and the Brac Youth Platform, said the actual number of survivors may be higher, as many do not report abuse due to fear and social stigma.
Referring to Rima’s case, Shairful questioned the role of the Bangladesh embassy in Saudi Arabia.
“She went with hope. She wanted to live a little better. Instead, she was raped and tortured in her employer’s house,” he said.
Shairful said the embassy should have taken stronger action before issuing her travel pass.
“Before giving her a travel pass, the embassy heard her story. Why did they not request the Saudi authorities to investigate? Why was the employer not summoned? Why was enforcement not involved?” he asked.
He also questioned whether the incident was reported to the relevant ministry and what steps were taken.
“They go because they are vulnerable. Once there, they become even more vulnerable. And yet we do not see the state fighting for them from the embassy level,” Shariful said.
Criticising what he described as a tendency to quietly send abused women home, he added, “When crimes go unpunished, the abuse continues. Another woman becomes a victim.”
“We often reduce it to numbers… But this is not about numbers. Human rights violations cannot be measured statistically. Each case is a life,” he said.
He urged the government to investigate the case thoroughly, including the roles of recruitment agencies and embassy officials, and to adopt a clear standard operating procedure to protect migrant workers.
“If one woman is tortured in Saudi Arabia, it is an injury to all of Bangladesh. Justice must be visible. Accountability must be real,” he added.
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