Domestic Help Files Lawsuit Against Bangla New York Consul General
Published on March 25, 2014 in the India TV News
View ArticleNew York: Bangladesh Consul General in New York is facing charges of abusing his domestic help, just months after Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade’s domestic help filed a lawsuit against her for similar reasons.
The worker has alleged he was made to work without pay in “slavery-like conditions” by Monirul Islam and his wife Fahima Tahsina Prova, and was threatened and abused.
The anti-trafficking unit of NGO Safe Horizon – that represented Khobragade’s domestic help Sangeeta Richard – filed a civil complaint last Friday in Manhattan federal court on behalf of Mashud Parves Rana.
The complaint states that Islam and Prova “trafficked” Rana into forced labour and involuntary servitude.
Rana was kept in slavery-like conditions for over 18 months through “physical abuse and threats to his life” and was forced to work more than 120 hours per week without pay or a single day off, the NGO said in a statement.
The lawsuit comes just months after Khobragade was arrested on charges of visa fraud and making false statements about the visa application of Richard, a domestic help she had got from India.