False promise of job: Hyderabad woman sold to sheikh in UAE, returns home

Hyderabad: A Hyderabad woman, who was offered the job of a salesgirl in Dubai was recently rescued from Sharjah where she was sold to a sheikh to work as a domestic help.

The young woman had accepted the job hoping for freedom from poverty and difficulty-laden life back in India.

Instead, what she was put through was nothing less than horror and torture- confinement, overwork and not enough food in a foreign country.

The woman narrated that the job of a saleswoman in a Dubai supermarket came to her through an agent in Hyderabad.

However, the agent sent her to Sharjah in United Arab Emirates on March 18, where she was initially confined in an office.

"Later a Sheikh bought me and took me to Bahrain. From there I was taken to Oman and kept as a domestic help," she said.

She also added that she was not given adequate food, was tortured and made to work excessively.

Somehow, she was able to reach out to her mother and informed her about the situation, after which the family reached out to the Indian embassy in Muscat.

The foreign ministry was also alerted after which they intervened and rescued the woman.

Now safely back in Hyderabad, the woman said she would like to thank External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the Indian Embassy in Muscat for rescuing her.

"I was finally rescued and I would like to thank Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and the Indian Embassy," she said.

This is not the first time Indian workers have been trapped in UAE.

The incidents became so regular that in 2017 a helpline was set up along with a new centre to help such trapped workers.

With this helpline and a team of advisers, the Indian Workers' Resource Centre in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates aims to help the multitude of workers in the region who maybe trapped, hence in need of help.

Workers with complaints ranging from torture and abuse to non-payment of wages can call up the multilingual toll free number (800 INDIA).