Taslima with her son

Since hearing the appalling news, Taslima Akter cried so much that her tears have dried up. 

The 22-year-old, mother of three children, is widow of one of ten Bangladeshi workers who died in a road accident in Saudi Arabia on May 2.

Before leaving for Saudi Arabia a little more than a month ago, on March 27, Taslima’s husband Yunus Ali, 25, used to make a living by selling vegetables at a market in his birthplace -- Raghunathpur village of Phulbaria upazila in Mymensingh. 

Sharing her last memory of her husband, Taslima said sobbing, “My husband made a video call on Tuesday afternoon [two days before his death] and that was the last conversation he had with us.”

After having small talks, Yunus wanted to see the children and then spoke with other members of his family, the grieving widow said. “All of us were so happy to hear that after struggling for a month, he had finally found a job.”

Excited about the opportunity, Yunus asked her not to worry about the future anymore as he would now be able to pay off his loans and provide for his children’s education with his salary each month, said Taslima.  

The couple has three children -- the youngest is six months old and the oldest is eight years old. Their middle child is five years old. Yunus’ elderly parents also depend on his income.

Aside from the worries over a bleak future for the family, Taslima is now more perturbed by the consequences of failing to repay the Tk six lakh loan that Yunus took to go to Saudi Arabia.

They have recently admitted their oldest son to a madrasa and his fees are still unpaid, she said, adding that she was at a loss to imagine how she alone would handle all the expenses and repay the loan without financial support from the government. 

Yunus’s father Abdul Khaleque said since it was getting more and more difficult to make ends meet with the vegetable store, his son left for the foreign land to earn a good living for the family.

But his endeavour met a tragic end in one instance, lamented Abdul Khaleque.  

Nurun Nahar, younger sister of Yunus, said none of their relatives are solvent enough to support the family members who depended on her brother’s income.