10 Bangladeshi women return after serving jail in India

Ten Bangladeshi women have returned home through Benapole land port after serving two to three years in an Indian prison for illegal entry.

Indian Petrapole Immigration Police handed them over to Benapole Immigration Police around 8pm on Friday under a special travel permit.

Officer-in-Charge Saifur Rahman of Benapole Immigration Police, said the women had illegally crossed into India five years ago via human traffickers in search of employment and worked as domestic helps in Pune, Maharashtra.

Following their arrest by Indian police, a court sentenced them to two to three years in Pune Central Jail. Upon completing their terms, an Indian human rights organisation kept them in a shelter home until embassy officials from both countries arranged their repatriation.

The women were handed over to Benapole Port Police Station, from where rights organisation Justice & Care received them to arrange family reunions, according to its Jashore Deputy Manager Muhit Hossain.

The returnees were identified as Tumpa Begum, Sumi Khatun, Sabina Begum, Nurbanu, Halima Khatun, Tonni Akter, Munni Akter, Jannati Khatun, Shirina Khatun, and Samia Akter, hailing from Khulna, Jashore, Narail, Faridpur, and Chandpur districts.