Consul general refutes abuse charge

The Bangladesh consul general in New York has claimed that allegation of his former house staff working for free under ‘slavery-like conditions’ is baseless.

Speaking to bdnews24.com on Saturday, Monirul Islam claimed the house staff, Masud Parvez Rana, sued him and his wife in a bid to gain permanent residency in the United States (US).

Several local and international media reported that the consul general and his wife were slapped with a lawsuit on Friday.

Rana has claimed in the Manhattan federal court that Islam and his wife, Fahima Tahsina Prova, promised to pay him $3,000 per month and provide “good working conditions” if he agreed to work at their Manhattan apartment.

But Rana says he was forced to steadily work from 6:30am to 11pm — 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 at the whim of Islam.

If he complained, Islam threatened to “kill” him, the law suit says.

The consul general said on Saturday that he had to leave the US for Morocco by the first week of April after being appointed as the Bangladesh’s ambassador to the African country.

“I told Rana that he can go to Morocco with me if he wants to or else he will have to go back to Bangladesh.”

Islam said that he had this conversation sometime in the first week of March.

According to the consul general, Rana replied that he won’t leave and that his sole purpose of working as Islam’s house staff was to get a permanent US residency.

Rana came to New York in 2012 and Islam claims he did not sign his visa application then.

“So, the claim of promising a $3,000 monthly allowance is not true.”

He, however, said Rana’s father took Tk 2 million from him on condition of adjusting it with his son’s salary.

“There is a written document on this matter. So, it is totally untrue that I have not paid Rana for his services.”

Islam said that they found all on a sudden that Rana left their residence.

“We did not find him at home one day after returning from a social gathering of the (Bangladeshi) community. I contacted all possible places, but failed to trace him.

“From which I concluded he had got a shelter somewhere. I even consoled myself that if he wants to be an illegal resident, then how am I to stop him?” Islam told bdnews24.com.

He said that he informed the deputy chief of mission in Washington and the foreign ministry in Bangladesh about the incident but did not report to the police.

Despite several attempts Rana could not be contacted for comment.

His attorney Dana Sussman was also not available, during the weekend, for comment.

Sussman also represents Sangeeta Richard in the case against Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade on similar charges.