There’s been plenty of unexplained deaths over the years. This particular death of a Nepali recruiter in Malaysia got many, including his family believing that there was more to the story than what was shared by the authorities.
Earlier this year in April, a Nepali recruitment agent named Rinji Rai was found hanging inside a toilet of a hostel in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan. At the time, police concluded his case as a suicide but his wife and the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agency believed that he was murdered, here’s why:
Suspicions of foul play first rose after reports said that the recruiter flew to Malaysia to check on the foreign workers he had sent over to the country after receiving threats from Malaysia-based agents. According to Malaysiakini, it was said that Rinji flew to Malaysia because he received news that the Nepali workers were not getting jobs despite there being hundreds of quotas issued by the Malaysian government.
Strangely, he was found dead 3 days later and not only that, he died at the same premises where a Nepali worker died months prior. It was reported that Rinji’s family believed he was allegedly cheated by his Malaysian recruitment partners saying, “There is a gang of people who sell demand quotas by showing big dreams to Nepali recruiters like Rinji and he lost his life to them”. However, according to authorities, there was no evidence of foul play.
In a joint article published by both Malaysiakini and Nepali Times, it was said that Rinji paid RS(Indian Rupee) 3 million (RM16.8k) to a Malaysian named ‘Ms Yeoh’ to secure visas for his recruits, but she allegedly ran away with the cash and has been unreachable since. Before arriving in Malaysia, Rinji’s wife recalled her husband having a heated phone call with someone and decided to take matters into his own hands; thus the decision to fly over to Malaysia.
The original article also revealed that applicants submitted fake contracts that were said to be worth millions with non-existent companies. However, for some reason, government agencies, including the Inland Revenue Board Of Malaysia (LHDN), didn’t notice this fraud. The article also exposed how the migrant worker pathway is exploited as seen in the photo above. The information was gathered through numerous interviews with whistleblowers and industry insiders and through reviews of leaked documents by alleged fake companies.
After this new information surfaced, former Member of Parliament, Charles Santiago urged police to reopen the death case of Rinji Rai. He said that the call for a deeper probing into the case was not only to seek justice for the deceased but also to advocate for transparency in the recruitment process for migrant workers. He hopes that through new investigations, those who exploited migrant workers will be held accountable.
At the time of writing, there has been no update on the case but we’re glad that something is finally being done about the mysterious death of both the deceased Nepali recruiter and worker. May their families get the closure they deserve.
Sources: Twitter, Malaysiakini, NepaliTimes, BNN, TheVibes
