The Bangladeshi consul general in New York and his wife have been sued for falsely promising $3,000 monthly wages to a domestic worker and forcing him to work in oppressive conditions, reports Associated Press. Mashud Parves Rana, the former domestic worker, filed the lawsuit in Manhattan Federal court Friday.
Consul general Monirul Islam is expected to move to Morocco as Bangladesh ambassador soon, Shameem Ahsan, director general of External Publicity wing of Bangladesh Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. He told The New Nation, ” We have not yet received anything to share with the media. If we get anything, we will let you know.”
“If this case proves to be genuine, it won’t be possible for Islam to leave US,” another source in the foreign ministry said. In that case, his new diplomatic assignment in Morocco is likely to become uncertain, he added.
Monirul Islam, a career diplomat from the 10th batch of Bangladesh Civil Service Cadre, was appointed as the new ambassador to Morocco on December 23, it should be recalled. Islam however, termed the charges brought against him “baseless” when contacted by a correspondent of a Bengali daily. He said Rana suddenly disappeared without any notice.
Rana could not be reached by any Bangladeshi journalist since his filing of the suit.
Terming the incident “suicidal”, a senior official at the foreign ministry said they are aware about the suit against Monirul Islam. “After the Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade incident, we have cautioned all missions abroad against such practices and advised them to strictly comply with the law of the respective countries,” he told the media.
The lawsuit says Monirul Islam and his wife, Fahima Tahsina Prova, forced Rana to work 17-hour days without a day off for more than 18 months. Rana alleges the couple wouldn’t let him leave their two Manhattan homes and threatened to beat him or kill him if he left, according to the AP report. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
Rana was forced to sleep in a storage closet or on a mattress on a kitchen floor, and serve as busboy or cook at Bangladesh Consulate events at the whim of Islam, said a New York Post report. If he complained, Islam threatened to “kill” him, the suit says. Rana – who is seeking unspecified money damages – worked for the family from September 2012 until earlier this month.
“After making such promises and bringing Rana to the United States, defendants maintained him in forced labor in slavery-like conditions, forbidding him from leaving their residence under his own volition, threatening to beat him or kill him, threatening that the police will arrest and kill him if he left their residence, physically assaulting him on at least two occasions, maintaining possession over Mr. Rana’s passport and visa, and withholding all compensation from Mr. Rana for a period of over eighteen months,” the New York Post said citing the suit.
The suit says Rana learned of what he thought was dream-job opportunity while in Bangladesh through his stepfather, who knew Islam growing up.
He was required to start work at 6:30 am, cook all meals from “scratch,” iron clothes, wash clothes by hand, clean the apartment, watch the couple’s adolescent son and do other chores. He would work until at least 11 pm – and sometimes up until 3 am if the family wanted a late-night snack, the suit claims.
He was only allowed to eat “expired or leftover food” alone in the kitchen and had to keep his belongings in a plastic bag, the suit alleges.
Rana also claims he couldn’t leave the apartment because Islam said he’d be killed or arrested if he tried, the report said. Rana hails from Muradnagar Upazila of Comilla, Monirul Islam said. He claimed to have handed Rana’s father, Nasir Uddin, Tk 12 lakh before bringing Rana to New York as a domestic worker.
Rana is being represented by lawyer Dana Sussman, who is also representing Richard in the case against Khobragade, New York Post report said.
