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Woman from Karkala trapped in Saudi Arabia, awaits return to hometown

Karkala: Jacinta, a mother of three from Karkala, is trapped in Saudi Arabia from the past ten months after she was promised a job in Qatar with a salary of Rs 25,000.

Jacintha was desperately searching for a job after her husband died last year. She met agent James in Mangaluru who told her about the job of a maid to look after children of an Indian family in Qatar. She was promised a salary of Rs 25,000. James managed to win her trust and took her passport and got her a visa without any fee. She then went to Mumbai from where she boarded another fight to Qatar on June 19, 2016. However, she was shocked when she landed in Saudi Arabia and not Qatar.

When she asked the driver who had come to receive her at the airport, he told her that she had come to Yanbu in Saudi Arabia. She was not informed of her employer’s name. When she reached her place of work, she found out that the man had three wives and ten children.

They lived in a bungalow and Jacintha was forced to work for over 16 hours a day. Soon her health deteriorated and her pleas of her inability to complete work fell on deaf ears. She requested her employer to send her back to India in view of her failing health.

It is also reported that on two occasions she was physically assaulted by the employer and his family. She informed via phone that once she lost consciousness after she was hit on the head. Soon after regaining consciousness, she had a feeling that the family had taken her thumb impression as she noticed the stamp pad ink on her finger.

During the first week of December, she managed to contact her children with the help of some of the Indian drivers in her township and informed them what she went through. The children then ran from pillar to post asking help from several people including an elected representative from their own community. The elected representative then contacted the Indian Embassy in Riyadh, but despite best efforts, Jacinta could not be contacted via the telephone number she had given to her children.

The Embassy then sought details of Jacintha’s employer in Yanbu and name of the agency through which she got the job, but the children had no such details.

On December 30, the children received information regarding Human Rights Protection Foundation (HRPF) operating at Udupi and met Dr R Shanbhag and explained their mother’s plight. The children were told to try to get James’ number and through him to contact Shabha Khan, the main recruiting agent in Mumbai. The children managed to get the details. But details regarding the names and whether it was registered with the Ministry of External Affairs could not be verified.

With the available information, a complaint was filed with the Deputy Police Commissioner. James was nabbed but the police were unable to get any details.

Towards the end of January 2017, HRPF contacted NRI Forum, Bengaluru and through them contacted the Indian Embassy in Riyadh. This time they got details of Jacintha’s employer. When contacted, he asserted that he had obtained her service for two years at his bungalow for which he had already paid Saudi SAR 24,000 which is equivalent to Rs 5 lakh Indian Rupees to Indian Agent, Shabha Khan. The man then said that Jacintha could be sent back only if the money was refunded. Then  the NRI Forum, Bengaluru too expressed their helplessness in the matter.

As a last resort, HRPF has contacted the Ministry of External Affairs. After initial hiccups, the Protector General of India, MC Luther and Consul General of Jeddah are now said to be in constant touch with Jacintha’s employer, Abdullah Almutairi and also HRPF, Udupi.

Efforts are also being made to trace Shabha Khan, the recruiting agent from Mumbai who had reportedly taken Rs 5 lakh from Jacintha’s employer. In the meantime, there are also reports that another batch of recruits, sailing in the same boat as Jacinta is yet to be traced.

On the other hand, replying to several tweets from Dakshina Kannada, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also assured president of Udupi-based Human Rights Protection Foundation Dr Ravindranath Shanbhag that his office would take necessary steps to bring Jacintha back to her hometown.