A Bangladeshi woman, who went missing from Bogra’s Dhunot upazila in 1998 and had been presumed dead, has finally returned home.
Amena Khatun, now 80, arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 1pm on Monday on a special flight from Nepal, thanks to the concerted efforts of the governments of the two countries.
Adilur Rahman, the octogenarian's grandson, said Amena Khatun had gone missing in December 1998.
She was even mentioned “dead” in her four children’s national ID cards as her family had presumed her to be dead after not being able to find her despite a lengthy search, he added.
Adilur Rahman continued: “Ahead of the last Eid-ul-Fitr, officials of the National Security Intelligence (NSI) informed us that my grandmother was in Nepal. We later identified her from a photo they showed us.”
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On Friday, Masud Alam, counsellor at the Bangladesh Embassy in Nepal, arranged a video call for Amena and her family members, wherein Amena was able to recognize her loved ones.
Masud Alam in a Facebook post said that he had found Amena Khatun after learning that there was an unidentified Bangladeshi woman in the custody of Jamuna Gautam Pokhral, deputy mayor of Inaruwa municipality under Sunsari district in Nepal.
Adilur told Dhaka Tribune that seven family members had gone to Dhaka airport to receive Amena, adding that his grandmother had recognized most of them.
Amena was very happy to see her dear ones after such a long time, he said.
Adilur also thanked everyone involved in his grandmother’s return, especially the Bangladesh government and the NSI.
The family will make arrangements for the media to talk to Amena Khatun at their home in Chapra village of Dhunot on Tuesday.
