Torture, abuse, & harassment: Indian-housemaids describe horrors of working in Saudi Arabia to RT

[BHarwana]

Two Indian women who used to work as housemaids in Saudi Arabia shared their stories of being held captive by employers. They say they were subject to sexual abuse and torture, and claim hundreds of women currently live in similar circumstances.
“The owners of the house where I had to work treated me very badly – they used to beat me every day, harass and torture me,” 38-year-old Noorjahan Akbar Husen tells RT.

She and her husband were hoaxed by an agent in Mumbai, who promised to provide a job for them in Riyadh, but offered a different one in the Saudi city of Dammam. She was separated from her husband right after landing in Saudi Arabia, and held captive, tortured, and harassed on a daily basis. She was also forced to work for a “home service,” which is a byword for the flesh trade in Saudi Arabia, she says. Her struggle to gain back her freedom lasted several years.

“When I informed the Indian Embassy people, they told me to continue working in the house. They said if I complained, the owner would make a false complaint against me, and the local government might put me and my husband in jail. I asked them for help every day,” the woman, who now returned to Ahmedabad, India, said.

She also said her owner prevented her from leaving the country using his influence in the Indian Embassy, which is a standard practice, according to the woman.

“Many owners in Dammam are in contact with the Indian Embassy people, so they bribe them and prevent maids like me from leaving the country… My husband asked Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj for help on many occasions, but it didn’t come,” she explained, adding that the only way to get any help was to bribe the embassy officials.

“Eventually, they said they could help me – but for 250,000 Indian rupees [$3,700]. I borrowed that sum and gave it to the embassy people. My husband is still working in Saudi in order to pay back the borrowed money,” Noorjahan stated, noting that she saw dozens of girls who shared the same fate in pursuit of wealth in Saudi Arabia.

“In Dammam alone I saw around 200 girls like me. They tortured them too. The owners use their maids however they want.”

https://www.rt.com/news/378927-saudi-arabia-maids-abuse/

 

[ABCharlie]

These Arab countries have a horrible record of treating workforce from south asia.