Three more cases of city women trafficked to Gulf, family approach Swaraj for help

HYDERABAD: Even before the dust on Ameena settles down, three more cases of trafficking of city women have emerged now. Worried families of the victims have urged external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to save their daughters from the clutches of their employers in the Gulf and help their repatriation immediately.

Rasheeda Begum, mother of 21-year-old Farah Naaz, who is now in Salala, Oman, said her daughter was tortured and forced to work for several hours. “My daughter called me 10 days ago and cried on the phone. She has fallen ill but is denied medical help,” Rasheeda said in her letter to Swaraj. Farah is a resident of Kachiguda.

She was approached by a woman travel agent of Shaheen Nagar, Rajendranagar, who offered her a job in Oman. The salary promised was Rs 25,000 per month. On December 9, 2018, Farah was taken away by another agent. Rasheeda said when she approached the local agent who sent Farah to Oman, she threatened her with dire consequences if she lodged a complaint with police. The Indian embassy in Muscat, in response to social activist Amjed Ullah Khan bringing the plight of Farah to its notice, said it was following up on the case. “Appropriate action may also be initiated against the agent,” the embassy told Khan.

In another case, Mohd Sardar, a resident of Aghapura, said his mother Mehraj Begum had been cheated and taken to Kuwait on the promise that she would be given a beautician job. In his letter to Swaraj, he said Mehraj had gone to Kuwait on September 24 last year but was forced to work as a housemaid though she was promised the beautician job. Sardar said his 43-year-old mother’s employer was demanding Rs 2 lakh to send her back to India. “The agents have cheated my mother and are now demanding money to send her back,” he said. Mehraj was also not being allowed to use her phone to get in touch with her family, he said.

In the third case, Safia Begum, a resident of Roushan Colony in Rajendranagar, said that her daughter Zakiya Mirza was conned by a travel agent and sent to Kuwait on the promise that she would be offered a beautician’s job. However, Zakiya, 22, who reached Kuwait on January 23 this year, was taken to a house and made to do household work. The employer, Mohammed, and his wife Salma are refusing to allow her to return to India as they had paid the agent to avail themselves of her services.

Safia said her daughter’s visa would expire on March 21and urged Swaraj to rescue her so that she could come back to the country. The Indian embassy in Kuwait, which took note of Zakiya’s plight, reached out to her. “Zakiya has reached the embassy and is being accommodated in our shelter. Her repatriation will be initiated as per local rules,” the embassy informed Khan on Wednesday evening.