A second Bangladeshi man has been found chained to a tree in a house in Male’ today. Haveeru reported that this is the second Bangladeshi man to be found in such condition within a matter of days. The first was reported to have been mentally unstable. The police have refused to give further details as the investigation is pending. It is reported that this has been done by the employer. One person has been detained for questioning.

Unfortunately for the Bangladeshis concerned in these inhuman acts committed against them in such a dramatic fashion, they have lacked the kind of attention and public outcry that would have been seen in any civilized society. The reason being that the brutal murder of a foreigner from the same country has been later attributed in very extraordinary circumstances to his countryman, housemate and alleged “homosexual” partner. Bangladeshi workers are looked down upon in the Maldives, though the President’s son-in-law happens to be of Bangladeshi origin.

We have usually attributed all evils in our society to foreign influences and foreigners. There is little research to prove the case. However, politicians and community leaders seem to have a liking to shift blame for their inaction and proactive engagement in building a nation to the foreign labor force which has contributed so much for the development of this country.

We are a people who have lived in denial for a large part of our existence. I have been told by a well informed source that the majority of child sex abuse cases in the country will in fact fall under incest. And that is when one in every six women have experienced some form of sexual abuse by the age of fifteen.

So, our attitude to abuse in general can only be imagined!
Related links: Haveeru