05 July,2011 07:00 AM IST | | Vinod Kumar Menon
42-year-old Ishwariben is being forced to work 15-hour days as a maid in the Saudi Arabian city of Al-Baha, after being duped by a recruitment agency; not given proper food, denied contact with family members
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This woman's dream of making it big as a beautician in foreign shores has turned into one prolonged nightmare. When Ishwariben Hargun, a 42-year-old divorcee, set out for Saudi Arabia, she was nursing grand plans of earning enough money for her family's sustenance.
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Ishwariben Hargun and her relative Gautam Khatri outside the Saudi Consulate
As soon as she set foot on foreign soil, however, she was whisked away to the residence of an Arab national, Musa Ali Al Sayari.
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Since the moment of her arrival, she has been made to work as a maid for 15 to 16 hours every day. According to her relatives, she is also deprived of food for sustenance.
She has been stranded in the Saudi Arabian city of Al-Baha since April 28, lacking the wherewithal to make it back home.
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Her relatives in Mumbai claim that she is unwell and in need of medical attention, but is languishing in captivity, since her employer Musa Ali Al Sayari, an Arabian national, has denied her all access to the outside world.
The woman's distraught parents have written to the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Mumbai, seeking their intervention in rescuing their daughter and restoring her to India.
Jamna (72) alleged in the written complaint that her daughter was compelled to seek employment overseas in order to tide over severe financial problems plaguing the family.
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Ishwariben was the sole bread earner for her family, eking out a living by running her own beauty parlour in Rajkot.
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Thinking that work as a beautician would be far more lucrative abroad, she registered with a recruitment agency, liaising with the proprietor, who identified himself as Kamlesh.
Kamlesh assured Ishwariben of a job as a beauty assistant in Saudi Arabia, with a decent monthly salary, excluding food and accommodation.
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In return for the appointment, Ishwariben paid Kamlesh Rs 50,000 as service charge.
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Enroute to Saudi Arabia, Ishwariben was accompanied by Kamlesh to Mumbai, where they met another agent, who had arranged for air tickets and her visa.
Rude shock
Gautam Khatri, Ishwariben's relative in Mumbai said, "Till the two landed in Mumbai, she was of the knowledge that she had secured a job as a beauty assistant.
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Hours before the flight, however, the Mumbai agent requested her to take up another offer in the same country, promising her that it would be more lucrative than the beautician's job."
"My aunt was also asked to sign a contract where she agreed to offer her services as a house maid in Saudi Arabia.
When she questioned the necessity for signing such a false document, her agent offered the explanation that it was done so that Saudi authorities could not create any problems during her stay abroad," said Gautam.
For days after her arrival in Saudi Arabia, there was no news from Ishwariben. A worried relative in Rajkot pulled strings to obtain contact details of her Arab employer from Kamlesh.
On establishing contact with the Ali Al Sayari, they were informed that Ishwariben had fallen ill, and would not be allowed to return to her homeland till her family compensated him for the expenses incurred for her treatment, along with money for the return tickets.
Ishwariben's family members and friends have since then been struggling to rescue the victim. They have made innumerable phonecalls to her Arab employer, about all pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
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"Her parents are unwell and are concerned about their daughter's safety. They are desperate to get her back to safety, as soon a possible," said Gautam.
Last Friday, Gautam visited officials at the Saudi Consulate in Mumbai and presented all the necessary paperwork hoping that his aunt would be back on homeground soon.
Deja vu
In January, MiD DAY had reported how two young men from Mohammad Ali Road, were promised lucrative jobs in Qatar and ended up as camel slaves. The brothers took care of camels in the blazing heat of the desert without any remuneration or even adequate food and water. They finally returned to Mumbai, after MiD DAY reported on their plight.
