Sitting quietly by a village pond in Chhaykot under Chandina municipality, Kabir Hossain appears completely unmindful of his surroundings.
Rendered unable to drive his rickshaw following a severe road accident and subsequently diagnosed with cancer, he had pinned all his hopes of family recovery and medical treatment on his youngest son, Md Sagar Abdullah.
Today, those hopes lie shattered following news that Sagar has been killed fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war after being lured into Russian military by a Bangladeshi broker.
The tragedy highlights the devastating human toll inflicted on vulnerable families by deceptive overseas recruitment practices.
Sagar, the youngest of three sisters and two brothers, had travelled to Russia in mid-2025 after his family accumulated nearly Tk9 lakh in debts to fund his migration.
For a time, relief seemed within reach as Sagar earned roughly Tk70,000 per month working in a Russian bakery, sending money home to support his family and aid his mother, Delowara Begum, who works as a labourer in a local factory to fund her husband’s cancer care and meet household expenses.
However, the family’s fragile stability was destroyed when Sagar met a Bangladeshi broker in Russia who enticed him with promises of higher earnings in the Russian army.
Overriding his family’s desperate objections, Sagar left to join the war in May this year, after which all communication abruptly ceased.
For four to five agonizing months, Sagar’s parents endured relentless anxiety without any news regarding his whereabouts.
The dreadful confirmation arrived last Saturday via a telephone call from a fellow soldier, leaving the impoverished family utterly destitute and emotionally broken.
At their modest home, Sagar’s mother continuously clutches a photograph of her son, staring incessantly at her mobile phone screen in the heartbreaking hope that it might ring and she will hear him address her as “Maa” once again.
Overwhelmed by grief, both Delowara Begum and one of Sagar’s sisters have made tearful appeals to the government to intervene and repatriate his body so they may bid him a final farewell.
Neighbours in Chhaykot have also expressed deep anguish over the death, urging authorities to remain vigilant so that other young men seeking better livelihoods abroad do not fall victim to similar deception.
Meanwhile, the family remains in the dark regarding the identity of the broker or the exact circumstances surrounding Sagar’s recruitment.
Chandina Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Mohammad Ashraful Haque said he is inquiring into the matter after learning about it through media reports, assuring that administrative assistance will be provided upon receiving official instructions from the ministry.
