Quest for a better life gone horribly wrong

At only 19, Rana Babu had migrated to Oman in 2017 with high hopes of making a decent living there and gradually helping his family come out of the clutches of poverty.

But soon afterwards, a tragic road accident in Oman shattered his and his family's hopes, put him in coma, sent him back to Bangladesh, and kept him bedridden ever since.

The 22-year-old youth has been in coma for last three years. Bearing the medical costs, his already impoverished family is failing to stay afloat. His only sister -- Rakiba Khatun -- died by suicide last December. 

Rakiba was supposed to sit for Secondary School Certificate examinations this year. 

"I can't bear to see my son's ordeal anymore. I believe better treatment may help improve Rana's condition," said Monju Ara, his mother.

Rana needs to be fed through a pipe and remains completely non-responsive.

His father, Alam Hossain, drives a Nasiman (locally-made three-wheeler) and is a resident of Parbhabanipur village under Birampur upazila of Dinajpur.

In 2017, Md Saiful Islam, chairman of Mukundapur Union Parishad under the upazila, offered the family to send their son to Oman to work at a car wash there -- giving them hope of financial solvency, Rana's parents told The Daily Star.

The parents put their faith in the UP chairman and agreed to his proposal, and paid him Tk 3.5 lakh to send Rana to Oman.

Rana had just completed his Higher Secondary Certificate examinations that year.  

"We arranged Tk 3.2 lakh by selling our land and valuables and the rest by borrowing from relatives and well-wishers," said Alam.

Rana reached Oman on May 15, 2017 -- only to discover all that he was promised were far from what he had to deal with there.  

He was forced to work as a cleaner instead of at a car wash, and was not provided decent accommodation and meals.

Rana informed his father of the situation over the phone.

Saiful Islam told the family that he would look into the matter when they contacted him.

However, after the phone call they no longer had any contact with their son, and 43 days later, they were informed that Rana had been critically injured in a road accident in Oman, his mother said.

"But we could not even know his whereabouts and his condition in the foreign land for another 10 months," said Monju Ara.  

The parents contacted the Oman Embassy in Dhaka.

The officials of the embassy traced Rana over the next three days and informed his family members, who later communicated with Rana's employer in Oman.  

Averda, a waste management company in Oman, had been his employer, Monju Ara said.

In April 2018, Rana was brought back to Bangladesh.

"We stayed a month at Dhaka Medical College Hospital for his treatment after his arrival. But we decided to bring him back home as there was no sign of improvement," Monju Ara said.

The company said it would give Tk 31 lakh as compensation to my son, but the money has not been paid yet.

"Every week, we have to spend Tk 1,500 for his medicine alone, and he needs to be taken to hospital once a month," said the mother.

The expenses are beyond the ability of the family to bear, since it is already burdened with financial difficulties.

She urged the government to help the family secure compensation from Rana's employer in Oman. "If we get the compensation, we can at least take our son to India for better treatment," said Alam Hossain.

This correspondent tried to reach Saiful Islam for his comment but he could not be reached over phone despite repeated attempts.