Pehowa boy held by traffickers in Belarus

A 19-year-old youth from Pehowa, who left home in September hoping to join his elder brother in Italy, has allegedly fallen into the hands of human traffickers — locally referred to as donkers — and has been held captive in the forests of Belarus for several days.

Rohit Singh, a resident of the Fauji Plot area, had set out with dreams of earning a better livelihood abroad. But a video sent by him to his family, in which he appears tortured and begging his parents to send money, has plunged the family into grief and fear.

Rohit’s father, Manoj Kumar, a taxi driver, said he had trusted a local travel agent, Vijay Sharma of Pehowa.

“I had links with the travel agent… he had assured that my son will be sent to Italy safely. My elder son Amandeep Singh is already in Italy and we had planned that Rohit will join Amandeep there and they will work together,” Manoj said.

According to him, the agent demanded Rs 11 lakh for taking Rohit through the “donkey route,” promising that the youth would first be sent to Moldova and then onward to Italy by taxi, with the entire journey taking about a month.

Manoj said, “On July 7, we handed over the passport and Rs 1 lakh to the agent and he claimed that Rohit will be sent to Dubai first. Rohit was sent to Dubai on September 21 and after he landed there, the agent took Rs 5.50 lakh from us. He assured us that Rohit will reach Italy in a week, but during his further journey he was handed over to donkers in the jungle of Belarus and they have been torturing Rohit and demanding more money.”

The traffickers have allegedly accused the agent of not paying them and threatened to kill Rohit if money is not sent.

“They also made Rohit send a video in which he explained how he was being tortured and he requested us to send more money. My elder son had been in contact with the donkers and the agent and he had also sent 400 dollars to them, but they were not releasing my son,” Manoj added.

The family says they have already paid the agent nearly Rs 9 lakh but Rohit has not reached Italy. They claim to have documentary proof and video evidence, yet the agent has allegedly threatened them after they filed a police complaint.

“We have no information about my son for the last 20 days… We have requested the police to take action against the agent and help us in bringing my son back safely,” Manoj said. Rohit’s elder brother Amandeep Singh, who has been working in a restaurant in Italy for over three years, said the family had hoped to finally build a home after decades in a rented accommodation.

“My family in Pehowa has been living in a rented accommodation for the past 26 years. We planned that Rohit would come to Italy and we would work together and build a house for our parents. The dreams have been shattered… The donkers have been seeking money repeatedly. I even told them to send my brother back if they can’t send him to Italy but they refused,” he said.