Telangana Woman Walks Free After Gulf Job Dreams Shattered

By Priyadarshini

We have heard of stories where people duped by agents get stranded in Gulf nations. There are many instances where gullible people are not aware that their passports have been forged and blindly place their trust in these agents who lure them with good job offers, but do not divulge proper information or explain the legalities involved in working in Gulf countries. Consequently, they face trouble either at the immigration counters or even worse when they face deportation and get arrested when they land in their country of origin.

In a similar case, a native from Bhadradri Kothagudem district who wanted to fly to Kuwait in search of job prospects was cheated in the hands of an agent and was arrested. However she was one of those lucky ones who was released from prison and walked free from Kakkanad Prison in Kerala, but albeit was a bit shattered after her ordeal.

This is the case of Kunche Vijayalakshmi, a 40-year-old woman who was deceived by an agent named Brahmaji from Amalapuram, Andhra Pradesh. He offered her a housekeeping job in Muscat. The agent called her to Hyderabad in the last week of August and told her that her flight was booked, which wasn’t the actual case. Despite Vijaya Lakshmi's repeated requests to know what was happening, and when he would send her abroad, the agent refused to divulge any details. 

Finally, he sent her to Kochi from Hyderabad on September 4th. From Hyderabad, she reached Kochi and from there the agent sent her to Oman. The airport authorities of Oman found discrepancies in Vijaya Lakshmi's documents and she was deported to Kochi. 

Nedumbassery Airport Police lodged a case against Vijaya Lakshmi under sections IPC 1860 465 (Punishment for forgery.—Whoever commits forgery shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both. ), IPC 1860 471 (Using as genuine a forged 1[document or electronic record].—Whoever fraudulently or dishonestly uses as genuine any 1[document or electronic record] which he knows or has reason to believe to be a forged 1[document or electronic record], shall be punished in the same manner as if he had forged such 1[document or electronic record].), PASSPORTS ACT, 1967 12(1)(b) ( holds a forged passport or any travel document, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year but which may extend to five years and with fine which shall not be less than ten thousand rupees but which may extend to fifty thousand rupees).On September 6th she was sent to remand. 

Vijaya Lakshmi's dreams were completely shattered and with no legal help, she couldn't even figure out what was going on around her as she couldn’t speak any other language except Telugu. 

She managed to call her son and told him about her situation. He called up Priyadarshini a web reporter working at Sakshi Post who is the cousin of Vijaya Lakshmi and explained his mother’s situation and sought help. She approached her Boss in Sakshi Post, who in turn took the support of one of her reporter friends from Kochi. There she managed to arrange for legal support and finally, Vijaya Lakshmi was released on September 16.
"I don't know what was happening. I was totally in a state of shock. I called my son and told him what happened. I didn't think that I would be able to get back home. My cousin Priyadarshini who is working as a reporter in Sakshi Post explained my situation to the Sakshi Post editor (Reshmi AR). She reached out to one of her friends, Smita from Cochin. She arranged a lawyer and he was very kind. He visited me in jail and took all the details. Today, I am out of jail. I thank each and everyone who extended their help," a visibly emotional Vijaya Lakshmi stated.

She urged that people who want to go and work in Gulf nations through an agent should get their documents verified and shouldn't completely trust the words of the random agents.