PETALING JAYA: Safiudeen Pakkeer Mohamed, the homeless migrant worker who was humiliated for sleeping outside a bank in Kuala Lumpur, will return home to India tomorrow night.
Tony Lian, the founder of two homeless shelters, said Safiudeen is being housed at a shelter operated by the Indian high commission in Kuala Lumpur.
“His flight is tomorrow night,” Lian told FMT.
He said the labour department and the police interviewed Safiudeen, 39, earlier today.
“It was a lengthy probe, for about three hours,” he said.
After the investigation, he took Safiudeen to the high commission to facilitate a meeting with his employer.
“I met with the employer and the commission’s officers. At the meeting, the employer agreed to amicably settle Safiudeen’s unpaid salary and buy him a ticket home,” he said.
FMT has reached out to the labour department to confirm if the employer will face any action.
A video showing Safiudeen being hosed down and kicked outside a bank had sparked outrage on social media.
The clip, which went viral, showed a security guard spraying him with water. Another man then kicked him, threw his belongings, and splashed him with water again.
Lian went to Safiudeen’s rescue and took him to one of his shelters.
In an interview with FMT on Nov 25, Safiudeen, who hails from Tamil Nadu, said he had come to Malaysia in March last year in search of a better life.
He never imagined that he would make headlines, not for his work, but for being humiliated simply for sleeping outside a bank.
Lian and a small group of volunteers have raised funds to help Safiudeen rebuild his life once he returns to India.
“We have raised and donated the money, and it will go (to him) through the high commission. They will send the money to him,” he said, adding that he will be in touch with Safiudeen’s wife.
Safiudeen said he worked at a restaurant in Sri Gombak, earning a modest wage as a cook. However, he claimed that his employer withheld both his passport and wages, sometimes for months. He was unable to send money to his family back home.
He said he wanted to resign, but they would not allow him to. He explained that his employer, a restaurant owner, took his passport as soon as he arrived in Kuala Lumpur, leaving him unable to seek other employment.
