A 38-year-old Bangladeshi woman, who was rescued by the West Bengal police about two years ago, was sent back home due to the collective efforts of the police, administration and civil society.
The woman, Solma Begum, a resident of Sunderganj (Bangladesh), was found wandering aimlessly in April 2015, in Sarati village under Arambagh district of West Bengal. A medical examination was conducted on her after which she was found to be mentally unstable.
Begum was taken to a shelter home at Hooghly where she was given medication and counseling for six months. She started recovering and could recall her family. Following this, the head counselor of the shelter home managed to contact her family in Bangladesh and procure the required documents. Even then, it took one-and-a-half years for her to be verified as a Bangladeshi national and finally repatriated to her family which includes her husband and three children.
Mrinal Sharma of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), which played a key role in her repatriation, said: “The CHRI contacted the Bangladesh Legal Aid Services Trust (BLAST) for help. We followed up with the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata. After various visits to the West Bengal home department, her nationality was verified and a repatriation order was issued in December 2016.”
This week, she was repatriated and handed over to her family members. She was greeted by her husband, brother and sisters, who had come to Benapole/Petrapole border to take her home.
As per statistics of the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), there were 6,185 foreign prisoners in India as on 31 December 2015. West Bengal’s prisons house more than half of the total foreign prisoners. Out of them, 98% are from Bangladesh. The NCRB data does not take into account the number of foreigners whose prison terms have been completed, but remain in prison waiting for assistance and means to return.
Sharma said: “Authorities in the countries should put official mechanisms in place to identify people and send them home.”