Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Feb 22: A woman from Hassan, who was kept in confinement in Qatar by the agency that got her employed in the middle-east, was rescued and brought back to Bengaluru on Thursday.
The 26-year-old woman had a diploma in computer science and had applied for a nanny’s job in Qatar, through a placement agency based out from Chikkamagaluru.
The woman claims that the agency asked her to pay them Rs 2 lac. However, she was unable to do the same. The agency then sent her to Qatar on a visitor’s visa and advised her to tell immigration officials that she is visiting her sister.
On January 12, the woman left Bengaluru. Soon after she reached Qatar, the agency confiscated her documents, including passport. Her return ticket was also cancelled.
She was then sent to do house work as a babysitter-cum-cook for Rs 30,000. She was one of the four maids in the house and was made to work for around 18 hours a day with no break in between.
The woman tells media that due to workload, she suffered nose bleeding. However, her employers had no empathy. After 18 days, she told her employers that she wanted to quit her job.
The agency then picked up the woman. However, they refused to send her back to India. Instead, they locked her in a house with three other women.
The women were given one glass of raw rice, one onion, one tomato and one potato. They had to adjust with the vegetables for three days.
On February 12, the four women managed to break window panes of the room they were locked and escaped at around 1.30 am. They approached the police and explained their situation.
The agency that employed them was summoned and they were allowed to talk to their families.
The Hassan woman called her brother-in-law who approached the Protector of Emigrants (PoE) office in Koramangala, Bengaluru. PoE got in touch with Indian Embassy in Qatar, who immediately got in touch with Qatar police.
Till the issue was sorted, the women were kept in prison and later sent to a deportation centre.
The Indian Embassy made the agency return the documents to the women. However, their salaries were not paid. On Thursday, the Hassan woman arrived Bengaluru. Two other who escaped were sent to their hometown in Hyderabad and one more returned to Kerala.
She then met Shubham Singh of PoE at his office on Friday and her statement was recorded. Singh said that they have started the process of initiating action against the agency in India.