Exploring cruel business of begging: the case of Bangladesh

Abstract

Begging is a common scenario of Bangladeshi society like other developing countries of the world. Of estimated 700000 beggars in Bangladesh, Dhaka alone has 40,000. They beg due to the victim of poverty cycle. Apart from this, a significant amount of beggar population is forced to beg where most of them are children. A vested syndicate is involved in this heinous activity. Every year they abduct thousands of children from the countryside disfigure them barbarically and force them to beg on commission of salary basis. The research, mainly based on secondary data, attempts to investigate the malicious business at the back of begging in Bangladesh. This paper also tried to identify the masterminds who are engaged with this ruthless trade. At the end it suggested some initiatives to tackle the beggar’s mafia.