Feroz Kha of Mollikpur village in Kaliganj upazila of Jhenidah had left home in late February to seek his fortune abroad.

His relatives paid local manpower broker Delwar Tk 15,000 to send him to Malaysia.

Around a month later, the 29-year-old phoned his mother Sufia from Chittagong and asked her to send money for saving his life.

"I thought Feroz had reached Malaysia in the meantime. But brokers had abducted him and demanded ransom for his release," said Sufia.

Delwar later demanded Tk 1 lakh more for sending Feroz to the Southeast Asian country. Accordingly, the money was paid to him. Within a few days, the broker went into hiding.

It was only in the last week of May when the victim's parents came to know that their son was rescued in Malaysia along with some other Bangladeshis.

Feroz was among 61 trafficking victims who returned home on June 18 night by a Biman flight after they had gone through a four-month ordeal.

The following day, he was reunited with his family members at his village home.

Sufia became ill thinking of his son's fate. The middle-aged woman couldn't control her emotions and started crying to see Feroz.

"My dearest son came back home alive. I just can't express my gratitude enough to almighty Allah," Sufia told The Daily Star at her home.

Terrible Orderal

Feroz said he fell sick as traffickers beat him up repeatedly for ransom.

"We suffered a lot due to shortage of food and water during the journey through the Bay of Bengal. We could hardly sleep as there was not enough space on the ship. Sanitation arrangements were also very bad," he added.

Nahid Hossain of Borobamundia village under Courtchandpur upazila in the district also returned home from Malaysia on the same flight.

In Jhenidah, a total of 22 trafficking victims returned home from Malaysia between May 27 and June 18. They had been missing for several months.

However, the families of 23 other victims are still waiting to see their near and dear ones back home.