Moghbazar couple, on verge of selling kidney, receives Tk16 lakh after media report on plight
Following several reports, including by The Business Standard, a wealthy man and a charity organisation reached out to Jamshed and his family and cleared off their debts
Jamshed Rahman* and Halima Begum*, owners of a small tailor shop in Moghbazar, were on the ropes. Like many others, their business suffered during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a bid to save his livelihood, they ended up taking loans at extremely high interest from NGOs, and local loan sharks– amounting to Tk15 lakh. Soon, they were caught in a vicious cycle of debt.
As the burden of interest grew, so did the pressure from lenders. With no way out, Jamshed made a last-ditch effort to sell one of either his or his wife's kidneys to clear the loans and put up a leaflet on a wall.
But they didn't have to sell his kidney; instead, all of their loans were paid off.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Following several reports, including by The Business Standard, a wealthy man and a charity organisation reached out to Jamshed and his family and cleared off their debts.
"A huge stone was lifted off my chest. Me and my family can now survive. We can now sleep in peace," Jamshed told TBS today (29 October).
"Just a month ago, my family and I would spend hours on Hatirjheel, to evade the NGO people. Now, I do not have any loans," he added.
According to Jamshed, a wealthy man, who wishes to remain anonymous, has paid off Tk11 lakh loans. In addition, the Iqra Foundation has given him one-time assistance of Tk4 lakh. The foundation also loaned him Tk1 lakh without any interest.
Iqra Foundation's Trustee and Supreme Court lawyer Syed Imran said, "We contacted Jamshed after reading the report. He told us that an individual had paid off the loan amount taken from the NGO. But he had also taken Tk4.5 lakh as a loan from a local loan shark and had to pay Tk30,000-40,000 as interest per month. If someone provides him the amount as one-time assistance, it will help him a lot.
"We have given him one-time assistance of Tk4 lakh. In addition, we have also given him a loan of Tk1 lakh without interest," said Imran.
"We thank The Business Standard. We got to know about the matter through their report," he said.
Jamshed's wife Halima expressed her gratitude to the journalists. But the trauma of loans and interests has scarred her deeply. "Even if I have to starve to death, I will never take a loan again."
The TBS published an article titled 'Can you help me sell my kidney': Why Moghbazar couple has turned to chilling last resort" on Jamshed-Halima's plight on 12 October 2024.
The report took social media by storm, with many coming forward to help the couple.
Many readers sent messages to TBS asking how they could help the couple.
*Names have been changed to protect privacy
