DHAKA, June 19: A former Bangladesh police chief who says seven 19-month-old children living with him are septuplets has been ordered to send them for DNA tests after trafficking allegations, lawyers said on Monday.

Former deputy inspector general of police Anisur Rahman says the three girls and four boys are septuplets born to him and his wife, but a human rights group has accused him of planning to traffic them.

The High Court on Sunday ordered Rahman to have the DNA tests carried out at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore within four months, said lawyer Salma Ali of the National Women’s Lawyers Association which filed the petition.

Two lawyers from the organisation would accompany Rahman and the children to Singapore on the order of the court, she added.

The US State Department estimates that up to 20,000 women and children are trafficked annually from or via Bangladesh to India, Pakistan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

The majority are from impoverished rural areas and end up working in the sex trade or as domestic helpers in slave-like conditions.

Last year Bangladesh repatriated scores of children, some as young as three, who had been found working as camel jockeys in the United Arab Emirates.

Some were sent from Bangladesh while others were born in the UAE to expatriate Bangladeshi workers. —AFP