A Correspondent:
Benapole: Ten Bangladeshi women returned home through Benapole land port on Friday night 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 8:00pm under a special travel permit.
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.
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 organization 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 organization Justice & Care received them to arrange family reunions, according to its Jashore Deputy Manager Muhit Hossain.
