Bangladesh police investigate death of teenage textile worker

Police in Bangladesh are investigating the death of a teenager at a textile mill who was killed after a co-worker reportedly pumped air into his body by inserting a compressor hose into his rectum.

Mohammad Yamin, aged around 14, worked at a textile mill in Narayanganj, on the outskirts Dhaka, and died on Wednesday, police official Manjur Quader told Reuters.

"We have arrested the co-worker, who is the main suspect in the case and we are now investigating."

In July, a 10-year-old child worker of a textile mill was killed a similar fashion.

Children under the age of 14 are not allowed to work under Bangladeshi law but child labor is common in a country where nearly a quarter of its 160 million people live the below poverty line of $2 a day.

Bangladesh relies on garments for about 80 percent of its exports and for about 4 million jobs, and is a major supplier of clothes to developed markets in the West.

Accidents and poor conditions in the textile and garment sector are a major concern for foreign buyers.

Last year, a 12-year-old boy working at a motorcycle workshop was killed in the same way after he had tried to quit his job. In November, a speedy trial court sentenced two people to death for the killing the boy.

 

 

 

 

 REUTERS