After Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, Bangladesh diplomat Monirul Islam and his wife were slapped with a lawsuit for similar charges.
Masud Parvez Rana, a Bangladeshi national, has claimed in the Manhattan federal court that Monirul Islam, Bangladesh Consul General in New York, and his wife, Fahima Tahsina Prova, promised to pay him $3,000 per month and provide “good working conditions” if he agreed to be their domestic worker in the U.S., according to both U.S. and Bangladesh media.
The domestic help complaint that instead he was forced to work from 6.30 a.m. to 11 p.m. — or later — daily without pay, sleep in a storage closet or on a mattress in the kitchen, and serve as cook at Bangladesh Consulate events.
But Mr. Islam and his wife have flatly refused the charges. Maintaining that he committed no wrong, he said he would fight the charge of worker abuse,. He said he had yet to receive any notice from the court or none from any investigating agency had asked him anything in this regard.
Speaking to Bangladesh media, the diplomat termed the charges “baseless” and also claimed the house staff sued him and his wife in a bid to gain permanent residency in the U.S.
The consul general said that he had to leave the U.S. for Morocco by the first week of April after being appointed as the Bangladesh’s ambassador there. He said he even offered Mr. Rana to go with him in Morocco if he wants to, or else he will have to go back to Bangladesh.
But, said Mr. Islam, Mr. Rana replied that he would not leave and that his sole purpose of working as Mr. Islam’s house staff was to get a permanent U.S. residency.
The career diplomat also claimed to have paid Mr. Rana’s father, Nasir Uddin, Taka 12 lakh before bringing Mr. Rana to New York.
A senior official of the Foreign Ministry said that after the recent incident involving Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, it had cautioned all missions abroad advising the officials to strictly comply with the laws of the countries they are appointed.
In the lawsuit, Mr. Rana sought damages but did not mention any amount. He alleged he had been forbidden to leave Mr. Islam’s residence and threatened that he would be beaten up or killed, the New York Post stated from the lawsuit.
According to the law suit, the couple also scared Mr. Rana into staying at home, saying that the police would arrest and kill him if he left their residence. They physically assaulted him on at least two occasions, maintained possession over Mr. Rana’s passport, and withheld all compensation, the suit says.
Mr. Rana came to New York in 2012 .
On the other hand, the Consul General claimed that they found that Mr. Rana had suddenly left their residence. He said that he informed the deputy chief of mission in Washington and the Foreign Ministry in Bangladesh.
Mr. Rana’s attorney incidentally is Dana Sussman, who represents Sangeeta Richard in the case against Devyani Khobragade.
