Bangladeshi woman rescued in India sent back after almost two years

A 38-year-old Bangladeshi woman, who was rescued by police in India's West Bengal after being found wandering aimlessly, has been finally sent home.

This follows a unique collaborative effort of police, civil society and judicial system in solving the case.

Solma Begum who was found in April 2015 in Sarati village, Arambagh District, was then assessed as mentally ill after a medical examination.

"Her story reveals the tragic plight of many innocent civilians caught in the quagmire of bureaucratic tangles on both sides of the border," said a press statement issued by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI).

"But this is where the story changes and seems to then come straight out of a Bollywood film."

After receiving counselling, Begum began to recover and was able to recall her family.

The head counsellor of the shelter home managed to contact her family and obtained all the requisite documents.

Bangladesh Legal Aid Services Trust (BLAST) then contacted the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI).

After following up with the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata and various visits to the West Bengal Home Department, her nationality was verified and a repatriation order was issued in December 2016.

It took over a year and persistent advocacy by CHRI and its partners, along with government officials, civil society and the media to bring her case to this juncture.

She was repatriated to Bangladesh on Monday.

Although the information from shelter homes is not easily available, statistics provided by India's National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) indicated that there were 6,185 foreign prisoners in India as of Dec 31, 2015.

West Bengal's prisons house more than half the total foreign prisoners in the country. Ninety-eight percent of them are Bangladeshi, says the CHRI statement.