4 Indian Women Including 2 Hyderabadis Seek Indian Embassy Help in Saudi
Hyderabad: Four Indian woman including two from Hyderabad have been languishing at the Indian embassy in Riyadh for help claiming that they have been subjected to torture at their employer’s hands.
However, the Indian embassy told the victims that they can’t come to their rescue as their passports have been seized and a criminal case has been filed against them by their employers.
Yasmeen, resident of Hasan Nagar said that the embassy officials informed them that although they narrated their ordeal through videos on WhatsApp to the Indian government they said they can’t take any action as a criminal case has been filed and the issue can only be solved by paying the required amount of 10,000 Riyals to their respective employers.
“The employer asked us to pay 10,000 riyals each to get relief. If we had so much money , why would we come all the way to Riyadh for employment,” said Shaheen.
Shaheen, Yasmeen and are from Hyderabad while Fahmida is from Bangalore and Shabana from Delhi. They paid huge amounts to their respective agents to secure a job but ended up in forced slavery in Saudi.
The victims have been sharing a small apartment near the Indian mission hoping their ordeal to end soon.
On the other hand embassy officials said that at the deportation center foreigners are not allowed to leave the country by the Saudi officials if a criminal case is filed against them, adding that, they brought the four women to the Indian embassy.
“We are persuading the Saudi Arabian authorities to give these four women a waiver from the charges. We are hopeful of a breakthrough, so that they can return to India,” said Anil Nautiyal first secretary (community welfare) from Riyadh.
Nautiyal further added that, “Saudi has a strict system and these women at the time of entry did keep the Embassy in loop, but violated various rules. Apart from possessing a valid visa, they are supposed to honour some procedures, otherwise, it is also considered an illegal entry.”
