KIDNAPPED SCHOOLGIRL'S FATHER IN GRIEF

May sell home, leave village in sheer desperation
If he does not get his daughter back
The Daily Ittefaq, Monday, March 24, 2008, Dhaka, Bangladesh
by Mongla Correspondent

Amratola-Chapra of Mongla: Due to continuous threat from the influential quarters, Parimal Roy (45), dirt poor and hapless father of a Hindu schoolgirl couldn’t file a case against the kidnappers of his daughter at the local police station. Nobody is speaking out against this crime fearing retribution, as the kidnapper come from a very powerful and influential family. Finding no other alternatives, Parimal, the poor and helpless father has decided to sell the ancestral home, his only material asset, and leave his village. This Sunday, Parimal expressed his grievance and helplessness in front of a group of journalists at the local press club.

As per Parimal, his daughter (16) is going to appear at this year’s S.S.C. (Secondary School Certificate) examination from the local Amratola-Chapra Secondary School. On the fateful evening of March 2, when she went outside of her home in order to respond to nature’s call, she was abducted by a neighborhood hoodlum, Saiful Molla, son of Hai Molla, a powerful and wealthy local man. He used a motorcycle to abduct her. Two local young men named Tapas and Suman Mondal were the accomplices of this incident.

When Parimal Roy approached Abdul Hai Molla and their relatives on the following day in order to apprise him of this incident, they asked Parimal Roy to keep quiet. Subsequently, Parimal Roy again brought this incident to the notice of the guardians of the abductor and other villagers but to no effect. Failing to resolve this issue with Saiful’s guardians and being unable to file a case with the local police station for fear of revenge and retaliation, Parimal came to the press club and expressed his utter grief with the question “Will they do whatever they want to do to my daughter because I am a poor, helpless man?”, while he broke down in tears.