Chennai: A 32-year-old post-graduate degree holder, a widow and mother of two from Coimbatore, who was trafficked to Kuwait with promise of a job two months ago, was rescued by the Indian Embassy in Kuwait and is all set to return to India, on Wednesday.
According to sources, the victim Sumathi (32), was approached by an agent who promised her a decent job in Kuwait, but after reaching there in the month of May, she was made to work as a housemaid in several houses. When she fell ill and wanted to return to India, she was asked to pay lakhs of rupees to be set free.
Sources said she contacted her mother Rani (53), who lives in Coimbatore, and said that she was being tortured and was also being denied food, after she expressed her desire to return to India. For two months, she was made to work night and day, not paid a penny, deprived of food and physically-abused. She said the agent promised Rs. 20,000 a month, but there, she was made to do all kinds of work like cleaning, washing and cooking, without any salary or food. She was even locked inside dark rooms when she asked for salary.
The local agent in Kuwait also refused to return her passport and accused her of stealing. Unable to bear the torture, Sumathi allegedly jumped from the balcony of the house where she was employed, fracturing her legs and hip, and underwent treatment at a hospital in Kuwait. However, after pondering for long, her mother Rani approached an NGO in Chennai, and sought help. The 'National Domestic Workers Movement' contacted the Indian embassy in Kuwait, and rescued the woman from the house last week.
Coordinator, National Domestic Workers Movement, M. Valarmathi, said, “The agents targeted single women, mostly breadwinners and promised hefty salaries, free shelter and food. But once in a foreign land, they are exploited and abused.”
She also advised women not to fall prey to agents who trap women and trafficked them to the Gulf. She said, “Sumathi is now under treatment, monitored by the Indian Embassy in Kuwait, and she is set to return to India on Wednesday.”
