38 domestic workers tortured, killed last year: BILS | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Thursday
July 10, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2025
38 domestic workers tortured, killed last year: BILS

Crime

TBS Report
23 January, 2022, 09:15 pm
Last modified: 24 January, 2022, 12:15 pm

Related News

  • How legal failures and social taboos embolden intimate partner violence in Bangladesh
  • Why is abuse of domestic workers so prevalent?
  • The Rumana Monzur story: From domestic abuse survivor to legal pioneer
  • Bangladesh Maid Agency: Bringing trust and reliability to domestic work
  • House help rescued after seven-year torture

38 domestic workers tortured, killed last year: BILS

BILS urged the government to enact a law to protect domestic workers and ensure exemplary punishment of the guilty

TBS Report
23 January, 2022, 09:15 pm
Last modified: 24 January, 2022, 12:15 pm
Illustration: TBS
Illustration: TBS

Thirty-eight domestic workers were tortured or killed across the country last year, according to a survey of the Bangladesh Institute of Labor Studies (BILS).

Of them, 12 were killed, 24 were injured, and two others committed suicide. Most of the victims were between 10-50 years of age. 

The organisation conducted the survey on the basis of reports published in various national dailies, said a press release.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

According to the survey, of the dead, four domestic workers were murdered brutally and eight others died under mysterious circumstances.

Of the injured, 15 were tortured physically, five were stabbed, three were raped, another was sexually assaulted, while another committed suicide after being raped. 

Three domestic workers were killed outside their workplaces.

BILS said, of all domestic workers working across the country, including in Dhaka, more than 95 % are female.

The organisation prepared the data on the basis of media reports, but the actual scenario is very serious, because many tortured workers were forced to settle for money in the face of pressure from influential home owners.

The 'Suniti' project of Bils and the Domestic Workers' Rights Network Bangladesh (DWRN) have demanded exemplary punishment of guilty parties in these incidents of torture of domestic workers, and have demanded compensation for tortured victims.

A cell to monitor the latest situation is in the making to help take action against persons engaging in the abuse of domestic workers, to contact victims through trade unions, and to provide overall support to victims, the organisation says. 

To prevent the torture of domestic workers, BILS urged the government to implement the Domestic Workers Protection and Welfare Policy-2015 and to take legal action after investigating incidents of torture of domestic workers.

It strongly urged the government to enact a law to protect domestic workers and ensure exemplary punishment of the guilty, and to build awareness about the matter.

In 2020, a total of 44 domestic workers were subjected to various forms of torture in Bangladesh. Of them, 20 people were killed, including 12 mysterious deaths.

Bangladesh / Top News

Domestic help / Domestic abuse

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Photo: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin/TBS
    SSC, equivalent results: Pass rate drops to 68.45%, GPA-5 also declines
  • Former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. File photo: Collected
    July massacre: ICT orders initiating trial in first case against Hasina, deposition to start 3 August
  • How S Alam’s Global Islami Bank cooked Tk2,259cr loss into Tk128cr profit
    How S Alam’s Global Islami Bank cooked Tk2,259cr loss into Tk128cr profit

MOST VIEWED

  • Graphics: TBS
    BB raises startup fund limit, drops upper age barrier
  • Workers pack undergarments at the packing section of a garment factory in Ashulia, on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 19, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Fatima Tuj Johora
    After US tariffs, jobs hang by a thread in Bangladesh's garments sector
  • Global Islami Bank rectifies 2023 figures, reports Tk2,259cr loss instead of Tk128cr profit
    Global Islami Bank rectifies 2023 figures, reports Tk2,259cr loss instead of Tk128cr profit
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Audit reports of most banks contain cooked up data: BB governor
  • File photo of containers at Chattogram port/TBS
    US buyers push Bangladeshi exporters to share extra tariff costs
  • CA orders law enforcers to complete all election preparations by December
    CA orders law enforcers to complete all election preparations by December

Related News

  • How legal failures and social taboos embolden intimate partner violence in Bangladesh
  • Why is abuse of domestic workers so prevalent?
  • The Rumana Monzur story: From domestic abuse survivor to legal pioneer
  • Bangladesh Maid Agency: Bringing trust and reliability to domestic work
  • House help rescued after seven-year torture

Features

Women are forced to fish in saline waters every day, risking their health to provide for their families. Photo: TBS

How Mongla’s women are bearing the brunt of rising salinity

18h | Panorama
Dr Mostafa Abid Khan. Sketch: TBS

Actual impact will depend on how US retailers respond: Mostafa Abid Khan

2d | Economy
Thousands gather to form Bangla Blockade in mass show of support. Photo: TBS

Rebranding rebellion: Why ‘Bangla Blockade’ struck a chord

2d | Panorama
The Mitsubishi Xpander is built with families in mind, ready to handle the daily carpool, grocery runs, weekend getaways, and everything in between. PHOTO: Akif Hamid

Now made-in-Bangladesh: 2025 Mitsubishi Xpander

3d | Wheels

More Videos from TBS

Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize before

Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize before

24m | TBS World
Trump threatens to impose 50 percent tariffs on Brazil

Trump threatens to impose 50 percent tariffs on Brazil

2h | TBS World
Can India stop water flow to Pakistan?

Can India stop water flow to Pakistan?

3h | TBS World
SSC exam results are out today, results will be available via SMS

SSC exam results are out today, results will be available via SMS

4h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net