Indian expat in Malaysia dies after months of unfair treatment

He died on March 20.

A 21-year-old youth from Chembur, Mumbai, had left for Malaysia, aspiring to land a Merchant Navy job there and earn good money. But, instead the young man ended up being subjected to torture and hunger every single day since he entered Malaysia last July.
Sandeep Chaudhary could not survive the inhuman conditions and died eight days ago. Sandeep was lured into a trap by an agent in India who promised him with a well-paying merchant navy job in Malaysia.
Sandeep and his friend, Vikram Gadge, had got in touch with an agent named Avtar Singh who took large sums of money from both of them in order to land them a job of their choice. But, instead Sandeep and Vikram were left alone and jobless in inhuman conditions abroad without any pay or shelter.
The family of deceased Sandeep has alleged that the other Indian agent in Malaysia even demanded R2.1 lakh from them just to release his body, threatening to cremate him in Malaysia if they refused to pay.
Narrating the ordeal, Vikram was quoted as saying in Mid-Day, "We came in contact with one Avtar Singh who said he helped people get jobs aboard ships in Malaysia. He had asked, we did a 15-day course from a private institute, learning about personal survival techniques, social responsibilities, fire prevention and fire-fighting."
However, when the two friends went back to Avtar Singh after completing the course, he asked them to cough up Rs1.8 lakh each, if they wanted a job in Malaysia. However, when the meagre-earning families managed to pay the amount, the agent Avtar Singh asked to pay another Rs80,000 each.
After collecting money from all sources and meeting the fraud agent Avtar's demands, the friends finally landed in Malaysia and met another Indian agent Jagdeep Singh through Avtar's reference.
The trouble started for the two friends as soon as they landed in Malaysia as Jagdeep Singh started harassing them for more money and both families sent Rs 60,000 as demanded by Jagdeep.
Vikram said, "Jagdeep took us to a ship named Chan-Soom-lee and told us that we would get Rs 20,000 a month. Avtar had promised us Rs 40,000; nonetheless, we started working, but even after three months of hard labour, we didn't get a single penny. The ship had been declared unsafe by the government and we started working on another ship with help from some locals. But the captain there used to force employees to consume drugs in a bid to make them work longer hours. Sandeep had started consuming some white powder that was given onboard. We worked there for nearly a month, but again, no pay."
Meanwhile, Sandeep took ill and started experiencing frequent chest pain. The two tried their hand at a third job after coming in touch with another Indian working there named Anis Khan who helped them to get the position of loader in a hydro company for a monthly salary of Rs28,000. However, shortly after joining work, Sandeep's health deteriorated and he died on March 20.

Grief-stricken family in Chembur

Shattered father of Sandeep, Bramhadev Chaudhary, said, "I have been in shock since finding out about his death. Worse, the agent there, Jagdeep Singh, tried extorting more money from us for his body. So, I approached the FSUI (Forward Seamen's Union of India)."
FSUI ensured the process to repatriate Sandeep's body immediately which arrived in Mumbai late last night. The cause of Sandeep's death has been stated as septic shock due to associated hepatic failure and acute respiratory failure in the post-mortem report.
FSUI general secretary Manoj Yadav said, "The issue of people from India being sent abroad for jobs by unauthorised agents is a very serious one. The government should take stringent steps against such agents engaged in trafficking and slavery."

• India