A blow-by-blow account of a 19-year-old’s alleged journey from domestic work to drug dependency, forced marriage and trafficking to China

When Rima (not her real name) left her village in Bagerhat around six months ago, she believed her destination was Dhaka for domestic work.

She had studied up to class six, worked for around three years at Salam Jute Mill near the Rupsha intersection, married young, and had a three-year-old son. Her husband did irregular agricultural work, and repeated financial strain pushed her back to her father's home.

With a child to care for and little income, she began looking for work. A distant relative then offered a way out: a job at a house in Baridhara.

Rima never reached such a workplace.

Instead, she was taken to a flat in the capital, forced to take yaba until she became dependent on it, threatened with compromising videos, married to a Chinese national through paperwork she did not understand, and sent alone to China.

There, according to her own account, she was confined, tied up, beaten, and sexually abused before escaping during a visit to a doctor.

The 19-year-old returned to Bangladesh on the night of August 4 with support from Justice and Care.

The Daily Star interviewed Rima, reviewed court filings and documents, and spoke to investigators, anti-trafficking organisations and law enforcement officials to reconstruct what she says happened.

Bangladeshi broker ‘Ador’ introduced Rima to the Chinese man. Photo: Collected

The trap begins

Rima said the woman who brought her to Dhaka was known to her family through distant kinship and was the mother of a woman named Nayma.

The promise was specific: she would work in a house in Baridhara.

But after reaching Dhaka, she was taken to a flat near Alir Mor in North Badda, close to Nilachal School and College, where she was kept. The woman's son, daughter-in-law, grandchild, and another son were living there.

For the first few days, nothing unusual happened. Then the woman took her into a room and began pressuring her to take yaba.

Rima initially resisted. The woman told her the drug would help her stop thinking about her son, ease her distress, and allow her to work without crying.

"They told me I would not keep thinking about my child, that there would be less pressure in my head and I would be able to work normally," she recalled.

She was forced to take the drug four or five times. Before long, she began craving it. The same people who had created the dependency then controlled her access to it.

"When I needed two, they would give me half," she said. "I became restless."

Her contact with her family weakened. She no longer wanted to speak them and sometimes abused relatives over the phone.

She said the drug had become the centre of her life.

At the flat, she also saw another young woman, Sajida, being brought in and given yaba.

She later learnt from Nayma that Sajida had been sent to China a day before her own flight. Rima said Sajida remains in China. The Daily Star could not independently verify that claim.

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Rima’s alleged Chinese husband, Wang Zhen. Photo: Collected

The forced marriage

The marriage proposal came after Rima had become dependent on yaba. She said her relatives told her a Chinese man would marry her and provide financial support to her family.

She initially refused because she could not stop thinking about her son.

That was when the threats intensified.

Rima alleged that videos had been recorded of her while she was under the influence of drugs. They showed her the footage and threatened to send it to her family and child, making her feel she could never return to her previous life if the videos were released.

A woman named Sumona later took her from the flat to Jamuna Future Park, where she met a Bangladeshi intermediary she knew as Ador. Nayma, whom Rima said was then living in China, joined by phone, while Ador brought the Chinese man.

"He only looked at me," Rima said. "They took a photograph."

There was little conversation before she was taken back to the flat, where she stayed for another month. During that time, she was given food and small quantities of yaba. Nayma later returned to Bangladesh and, according to Rima, sometimes took the drug with her.

Her passport was arranged during this period. She was taken to a passport office, where it was issued within a day, and later to the Chinese embassy, although she could not explain how her visa was processed or what documents had been submitted.

She described the marriage as little more than a signing exercise at a place she identified as "Bismillah Coffee Shop" somewhere in Dhaka. Ador, Sumona and Ador's wife were present. She was handed a document and told where to sign.

"No one explained anything. They only gave me a paper and told me to sign there," she said.

The journey to China

Around a month later, Rima received a call telling her it was time to go to the airport.

Nayma and a man who worked for Ador took her to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. Her Chinese husband had already left Bangladesh, and Rima travelled alone.

Inside the airport, she met another Bangladeshi woman, whom she identified as Maya. They had not known each other before.

Rima alleged that a person in a blue uniform escorted both of them to the airport bus that transports passengers to the aircraft.

She repeatedly referred to the person as a police officer but also acknowledged that she was not certain which agency the individual belonged to.

She did not remember the person's name from his nameplate either.

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AI-generated representational image.

The honeymoon phase

After landing in China, a uniformed person helped Rima through the arrival process, after which she was met by Wang. Immigration officials took her photograph, she recalled.

Wang took her to a hotel, where they stayed for three days before going to his family's home in a village. His parents lived there.

Rima described the house as having a roof that looked like corrugated metal from the outside but a more finished interior. She struggled to eat the local food.

"I could not eat it, but I ate to survive," she said.

For the first several days, the family treated her well. They arranged a photo shoot and held a small gathering at the house, where villagers came to see her.

When abuse begins, again

The appearance of a normal married life continued until her visa was extended for six months. Then, the treatment changed.

Rima said Wang and his parents tied her hands and feet one night and took her away in the dark.

"They treated me like I was cattle," she said.

She was taken to the house of another Chinese man, whom she believed was a broker. She did not know his name but said she had provided his photograph to those assisting her after her escape.

She was kept there for around 20 days, during which she was beaten and sexually abused. After that, Wang's family took her back.

Rima told them she wanted to return to Bangladesh and accused them of exploiting her. She also called Ador in Bangladesh. Ador told her to be patient and said she would be brought back after two months.

Instead, her phone was taken away. Four or five days later, she was sent back to the broker's house and kept there for another 10 to 12 days.

She eventually concluded that open resistance would leave her completely isolated. Without a phone, she had no way to contact her family or anyone in Bangladesh.

So, she changed tactics.

Rima said she began behaving as though she had accepted the situation. Once she regained access to a handset, she told those around her that she wanted to stay and could even arrange for more women from Bangladesh through her brother.

It was a ruse, intended to draw out information. She asked how much they would pay for each woman.

According to Rima, the answer was around Tk 2.5 lakh. She said she found messages on a phone concerning transactions between Ador and the Chinese side.

She also alleged that Nayma later demanded Tk 3.5 lakh from her family and former husband in exchange for her return. The demand was repeated just two or three days before her escape, she said.

Rima quietly began sending information to her brother.

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AI-generated representational image.

The escape

Rima eventually obtained a local mobile phone in China, but the language barrier remained a major obstacle. People around her spoke Chinese, and she could not communicate with them.

Some conversations took place using translation functions on Wang's phone. That device, she said, also contained translated threats, including statements about beating her and keeping her chained.

Rima photographed some of those messages and saved them on her own phone.

She was eventually taken to a doctor because of injuries to her hands and feet. While the man accompanying her was occupied at the reception desk, she slipped out through the back and ran.

She ran for "a long distance" before reaching a restaurant.

Inside, she showed the staff the images she had saved. The material included Chinese and Bangla text, photographs of her injuries, and threats that she would be beaten or chained, she said.

The restaurant workers understood enough to call the emergency services.

Police took her from the restaurant. She showed them the images and information about the alleged financial dealings.

She said Chinese police recovered her passport but did not return her other belongings.

Police later bought her a ticket to Beijing. At one stage, she showed her documents to a person wearing an identification badge before being allowed to proceed.

From there, with Justice and Care Bangladesh coordinating her return, she travelled back to Bangladesh.

The rescue effort

Rima's father filed a petition with the Khulna Human Trafficking Offence Tribunal on August 2.

The petition named seven accused: Nayma Khatun, Md Jannatul Baki Ador, Badi Sheikh, Moyna Begum, Helena Begum, Abdullah, and Wang Zhenzhen. It alleged deception, forced drug use, sexual exploitation, coercion into divorce and remarriage, trafficking to China, and extortion.

It also alleged that other Bangladeshi women were being held under similar circumstances. The tribunal accepted the complaint and ordered legal proceedings.

Justice and Care said it first received information from the family on July 30. The organisation reviewed documents, advised the family to approach police, and assisted with the trafficking complaint.

On August 3, it wrote to the home ministry seeking government intervention to rescue Rima from Shuanghe Town in Guangzhou. The application included her passport and birth registration records, WeChat information, photographs, documents linked to Wang, and the tribunal petition.

The documents identify her as a Bangladeshi citizen born on February 16, 2007. While she described her home as being in Bagerhat, the documents list an address in Joypur, Rupsha, Khulna. Sensitive identifiers are being withheld.

Mohammed Tariqul Islam, country director of Justice and Care, said her safe return underscored the importance of swift cross-border cooperation.

He said reports suggested an emerging pattern of young women being trafficked through false marriage promises. Community organisations believed hundreds may have been affected in recent years, although no official national figure is available.

"Law enforcement agencies must strengthen investigations to dismantle these networks, while awareness needs to be raised in vulnerable communities about the risks of false overseas marriage offers," he said.

He also called for stronger victim protection and continued international cooperation.

Not the only one

The presence of other Bangladeshi women is a recurring detail in Rima's account. She said Sajida, who had been drugged at the Dhaka flat, was flown to China a day before her.

She also travelled from Dhaka with Maya, whom she met only after entering the airport. Rima said she could not determine where Maya went after they arrived in China. Nor was she able to contact Sajida independently.

Nayma, she said, remained in China but denied any involvement. However, another woman who was friendly with Nayma privately told Rima that Nayma was still there.

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This man allegedly abused Rima in China. Photo: Collected

A growing trafficking route

The case has emerged amid growing concern within law enforcement that marriages between Bangladeshi women and Chinese nationals are being used as a route for human trafficking.

Mostafizur Rahman, additional superintendent of the Criminal Investigation Department's Trafficking in Persons Unit, said he was directly handling four China-related trafficking cases.

Several other cases had been filed at police stations, including Airport, Gabtoli, Uttara, Dakshinkhan, and Uttarkhan, he said.

Mostafizur said more than 1,100 family visas for China were reportedly issued in 2025. He believed many of them to be similar to Rima's case.

Mostafizur said the CID had been working with the Chinese embassy, but preventing travel was difficult when marriage and visa applications were supported by apparently valid documents.

He said there was little formal scope to prevent travel when an applicant submitted all the required legal documents.

The larger problem, he said, was that many women did not understand the risks before leaving Bangladesh.

Cases keep emerging

Shariful Hasan, associate director of BRAC's Migration and Youth Platform, said the organisation had not conducted a formal study and therefore had no verified figure for the number of women trafficked to China through marriage.

However, over the past one and a half years, BRAC had repeatedly come across such cases.

"This is no longer limited to one or two incidents. The cases are occurring repeatedly," he told The Daily Star.

Shariful said Chinese nationals had been coming to Bangladesh in larger numbers for work, and some had entered into marriages with Bangladeshi women.

BRAC had observed networks operating around marriage registrar offices in areas such as Gulshan, Mohakhali, and Uttara, where papers were allegedly arranged for marriages between Chinese men and Bangladeshi women.

In several cases that came to BRAC's attention, he said, the women were taken to China and later allegedly sold, forced into prostitution, or subjected to other forms of exploitation. He stressed that these observations did not amount to a national estimate.

Shariful said every Chinese national seeking to marry a Bangladeshi woman should have his identity and marital status verified by the Chinese embassy before a marriage is registered.

He also urged authorities to review immigration records, marriage documents, and the identities of Chinese spouses to trace women who had travelled to China but never returned.

He called for closer coordination among the home ministry, law ministry, immigration authorities, marriage registrars, police, and the Chinese embassy to prevent further cases.

A recurring pattern

Law enforcement agencies arrested at least six Chinese nationals between January last year and July this year in cases linked to alleged fraudulent cross-border marriage syndicates, according to information compiled for this report.

Among the most notable operations was a March raid by the Rapid Action Battalion and police in Uttara, where two Chinese nationals, Zeng Fan and Zin Suchun, were arrested over allegations that young women had been confined and abused before being taken illegally to China.

In May last year, personnel from the Airport Armed Police Battalion intercepted two Chinese nationals at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport after a woman escaped and alerted security officers.

At least two other Chinese nationals were detained later in 2025 during police operations targeting alleged bride-buying networks that preyed on vulnerable rural and Indigenous communities.

In an earlier case reported by The Daily Star, a 21-year-old woman escaped suspected traffickers at Dhaka airport in December 2024 and sought help from law enforcers. The APBn later arrested two Chinese nationals on human trafficking charges.

Taken together, the cases point to a recurring pattern: a marriage or job offer, apparently legitimate documents, travel through regular immigration channels, and allegations of control or exploitation after arrival.

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The house in China where Rima was allegedly kept. Photo: Collected

The Chinese embassy warns

The Chinese embassy in Dhaka issued a notice on July 14 warning Chinese citizens to exercise caution when seeking to marry Bangladeshi women.

The notice said Bangladeshi authorities were intensifying efforts to combat human trafficking and child trafficking and advised Chinese nationals not to use illegal brokers or unlicensed matchmaking agents.

It warned against paying intermediaries to arrange wives and urged citizens to avoid forged documents.

The embassy said marriages could attract scrutiny if the Chinese man entered Bangladesh on a short-term visa, the woman's family appeared unaware, the woman had multiple previous marriages, or the couple could not provide convincing evidence of a genuine relationship.

Cross-border marriages must be based on the voluntary consent of both parties, the notice said.

It also warned that so-called bride-buying arrangements could expose those involved to allegations of human trafficking, as well as extortion, threats, physical harm, and financial loss.

The notice did not suggest that all such marriages were fraudulent. Rather, it focused on illegal arrangements, forged documents, brokers, and conduct that could amount to human trafficking.

Meanwhile, Chu Guang, counsellor at the Chinese embassy, told The Daily Star that applicants undergo individual interviews to ensure marriages are genuine and women are travelling voluntarily.

“We have to make sure that the Bangladeshi wife is not a victim of human trafficking,” he said. “We have to make sure that she is willing to go to China without being forced or coerced.”