Mangaluru, Mar 7: A woman from Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district, who was undergoing hardship in Saudi Arabia for around one-and-a-half-months after being duped by a travel agent, finally returned home safely thanks to the efforts of a few kind hearted NRI philanthropists.
In January this year, Fathima flew to Dubai, from where she was sent to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Then only she realized that she was duped by the travel agent. Her sponsor forced her to work as a house maid. She had no other option but obeying her sponsor’s order.
After a few days, the sponsor started giving her more work and asked her to work in his another house too. He also allegedly assaulted her for refusing to work in two houses at a time.
Even though the agent had promised her 1,500 riyals salary, she was given only 1,000 riyals per month. Finally, she broke the silence and explained her situation to her family in India. “We immediately contacted Abdul Hameed, the travel agent. However, he was not ready to listen to our woes,” said one of her family members.
The family members then contacted Ashraf Arkana, a member of Indian Social Forum in Saudi Arabia and apprised him of the situation. He and Ismail Mangalapete, another member of ISF, contacted Indian Embassy in Riyadh, seeking its help for her immediate repatriation.
The embassy officials in turn contacted Fathima’s sponsor and requested him to release her. However, he said that he would release only if she returns the visa money.
As Fathima had no relatives or friends in Riyadh, ISF Karnataka State Committee arranged money and paid to her sponsor. Finally, on March 2, she departed from King Khalid International Airport at Riyadh and reached home via Bengaluru.
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