MEA not keen on trafficking victim’s plight

Alappuzha: The tale of a young woman from Kerala, who fell into the clutches of a sex racket in Kuwait, must be an eyeopener to the  government which remains insensitive to the plight of ordinary Indian citizens abroad.

Jayasree, 22, of Azhattupadi colony near Mavelikara, was taken to Kuwait on September 29, 2012 by a Thiruvalla-based agent, Murali, with the offer a teacher’s job.

He was paid Rs 25,000  for the visa. But she was made to work as a housemaid in a Kuwaiti’s house.

When she protested, she was detained in an apartment by a human trafficking racket having links in Kerala and Middle East.  

Jayasree escaped from there in April after her father, Janardhanan, a construction worker, agreed to pay Rs 2 lakh to the racketeers.  

She now works  as a teacher in Gundur, Andhra Pradesh.

“For over a month, I was locked up in a flat which was a brothel. I witnessed the plight of several young girls brought there for immoral activities by Basheer, a Kozhikode native settled in Kuwait, and his partner, Fathima, a Sri-Lankan,” she told DC. 

Fathima kicked and punched her several times whenever she protested. She was not given food for several days. She happened to see  a friend in Kuwait, who informed the matter to her father which led to her rescue.

Arafat, who works for the racket in Kerala, was   arrested  by Mannar police on April 17 when he came to collect the ransom.