Distressed family members go through hell in India

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, February 7

Whoever goes abroad and gets stuck because of travel agents have a sad stories back in their homes too. One such case is of Harmanjeet’s family.

His father discontinued his own treatment, mortgaged ornaments and all he had just to send his son aboard.

But now he feels that had he not done all this for his son, he would have been here with him today.

This is the tragedy of Sukhdev Singh (60), retired naik from the Army and father of Harmanjeet, one of the youths from Kapurthala, who is stuck in Armenia.

Sukhdev, while talking to Jalandhar Tribune, said he had been bed-ridden for the past two years.

He cannot even move but looking at the expenses on the treatment, he decided to stop it and instead save money in order to save future of Harmanjeet and his three daughters.

Harmanjeet would work as carpenter here before he moved Armenia two months ago. His father said, “I wanted him to work and earn properly. I wanted to make him independent and become stable until I am alive, but everything has finished.”

A few days later Harmanjeet went there. He called up his father to tell that they have been duped as there was no work and he, along with others, were being tortured.

“He told me that they were not even given anything to eat and their money was also taken away,” the distressed father said.

Sharing his ordeal, Sukhdev said he would lose everything if his son wouldn’t return.

Harmanjeet’s wife said they had got their two daughters admitted to a private school just because they were sure that her husband would now earn well.

“But we did not know that another tragedy was awaiting us,” his wife said. She has been married to Harmanjeet for the past nine years.

“We do not have any source of income. My father-in-law is also not well. We just want my husband to come back and do work here,” she said.