A Correspondent
Jhenaidah: The body of Bangladeshi national Sohel Rana, who died in Latvia after allegedly being tortured by human traffickers, returned home on Sunday.
The remains of Sohel, 45, son of Abul Hashem, reached his home at Ramchandrapur village in Sadar upazila around 3:00pm, triggering an outpouring of grief among family members and relatives.
Hundreds of villagers gathered at his home to pay their last respects.
According to his father-in-law, Alfaz Uddin, Sohel was rescued by Latvian police from a forest near the Latvia-Belarus border on October 7 after being subjected to inhuman torture by a human trafficking gang that had promised to send him to Italy.
He died the following day while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Latvia’s Latgale region, Alfaz said.
The family was informed of his death through a text message from Polish police on October 12, he added.
On October 17, Sohel’s wife, Jasmin Sultana, filed a case with a court accusing nine people in connection with the incident.
The court subsequently directed the Officer-in-Charge of Jhenaidah Sadar Police Station to register the complaint as a first information report (FIR).
Sohel’s father, Abul Hashem, said his son’s body was brought from Dhaka to their village home after completing the necessary legal procedures and administrative formalities.
Local Union Parishad Chairman Enamul Haque Nilu said Sohel’s namaz-e-janaza was held at the local Ramchandrapur School ground in the afternoon, after which he was buried at the family graveyard.
Villagers demanded exemplary punishment for those involved in the alleged human trafficking network responsible for the incident.
