A 19-year-old boy from Pehowa, who had left his home in September hoping to join his elder brother in Italy, has reportedly been caught by human traffickers, locally known as donkers. Rohit Singh, a resident of the Fauji Plot area, has been kept captive in the forests of Belarus for several days.
Rohit had left with dreams of earning a better livelihood overseas. But a video he sent home, in which he appears tortured and pleads with his parents to send money, has left the family devastated.
Rohit’s father, Manoj Kumar, a taxi driver, said he had trusted a local travel agent, Vijay Sharma of Pehowa.
“I had links with the travel agent… he had assured me that my son would be sent to Italy safely. My elder son Amandeep Singh is already in Italy, and we had planned that Rohit would join him and they would work together,” Manoj said.
He said the agent asked for Rs 11 lakh to take Rohit through the “donkey route.” He said the agent had promised that Rohit would first be sent to Moldova and then taken to Italy by taxi, with the complete journey taking about a month.
Manoj said, “On July 7, we handed over the passport and Rs 1 lakh to the agent and he claimed that Rohit will be sent to Dubai first. Rohit was sent to Dubai on September 21 and after he landed there, the agent took Rs 5.50 lakh from us. He assured us that Rohit will reach Italy in a week, but during his further journey he was handed over to donkers in the jungle of Belarus and they have been torturing Rohit and demanding more money.”
The traffickers have reportedly accused the travel agent of not giving them money and have threatened to kill Rohit if more money is not sent.
“They also made Rohit send a video in which he explained how he was being tortured and he requested us to send more money. My elder son had been in contact with the donkers and the agent and he had also sent 400 dollars to them, but they were not releasing my son,” Manoj said.
The family said they had already given the agent nearly Rs 9 lakh, yet Rohit has not reached Italy. They claim to have proof and videos but allege that the agent threatened them when they filed a police complaint.
“We have no information about my son for the last 20 days… We have requested the police to take action against the agent and help us in bringing my son back safely,” Manoj said.
Rohit’s elder brother Amandeep Singh, who has been working at a restaurant in Italy for three years, said the family had hoped to finally construct a home after decades of living in rented places.
“My family in Pehowa has been living in a rented accommodation for the past 26 years. We planned that Rohit would come to Italy and we would work together and build a house for our parents. The dreams have been shattered… The donkers have been seeking money repeatedly. I even told them to send my brother back if they can’t send him to Italy but they refused,” he said.
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