ASIAN COUPLE HELD FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING

NHLANGANO – A couple from Bangladesh has been arrested on suspicion of trafficking three compatriots into the country for purposes of exploitation.

Mohammed Ali Jinnah (52), together with his wife Jesmine Jinnah (41), were apprehended by the police over the past weekend and quizzed over the suspected holding of three Bangladesh nationals in the country, for purposes of exploitation, for a period spanning over three years.

They were subsequently charged for contravening section 12 (1) (e) of The People Trafficking and People Smuggling (Prohibition) Act 7 of 2009, where they face three counts.

The pair is also facing a further count of kidnapping, after they allegedly locked one of their victims inside their rented flat, for three days.
According to investigators, one of the victims was only able to leave the house after making a call to one of his workmates at a shop run by the suspects.
Information gathered was that it was around April this year, when the shop assistant received a call from the Asian national she had all along known as a workmate.

The man, who is aged 25, sounded scared, and was desperate to be rescued from what appeared like a kidnapping.

Locked

He had been locked inside the suspects’ rented flat in Nhlangano for about three days.
According to information which transpired during the investigation, the man just wanted out of the place, but he didn’t know what else to do except to call the only person who could possibly help him under the circumstances.

So, he dialed his work colleague, which led to police officers descending on the place to rescue the terrified Bangladesh national. Preliminary investigations indicated that the man had been trafficked, but his alleged capturers were not found at the scene at the time. He was accommodated at the Nhlangano Police Station after the officers came to his rescue.

It is understood that the Bangladesh national had been in the country for the past three years. He reportedly found his way into the kingdom after he was promised a good business deal by his compatriots, back in his home country.

He told investigators that he was living a life of desperation in one of the rural areas back in his native land, when he was approached by some of his compatriots who promised him a job at a shop in Nhlangano, a small town located in the southern part of the kingdom of Eswatini.

Promised

However, the man was not expecting any pay from his compatriots, who had allegedly promised to supply him with food and accommodation.
 The deal entailed that after a certain period, his supposed partners would relinquish ownership of the shop to him.

But that was never to be. The gullible Asian national later realised that he had fallen into the shadowy world of human trafficking, where many are lured by false promises to places far away from their homes, only to be thrown into exploitation. He discovered that he was in trouble when his supposed partners allegedly refused to fulfill their end of the bargain, after the stipulated period elapsed.

Their relationship reportedly changed from then onwards. The man told investigators that his passport and work permit were allegedly confiscated by the people who brought him into the country, and when he insisted on their initial deal, he got locked inside the house.
Back at his workplace, colleagues were allegedly told he was sick, to explain his prolonged absence.

The issue led to a police investigation that ensued involving two other men from the same country. Their story appeared similar to that of the initially rescued Bangladesh national. This subsequently led to the arrest of the couple which has already made their initial appearance at the Nhlangano Magistrates Court, where they were both admitted to bail amounting to E50 000 per individual.

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