“Aur kitne zulm bardaasht karenge hum? Aap please meri madad kijiye. Kuch bhi karke humein yahaan se nikaliye. (How much more injustice can we tolerate? Please help me. Do something and get me out of here.)”
This is one of the over 70 distress messages received by The Quint from a 40-year-old Indian woman who has been stranded at a shelter home near the Indian Embassy in Oman for over two months.
The woman originally hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow and went to Oman on 27 December 2022 after she was promised a job as a domestic worker, allegedly by unscrupulous travel agents based in Mumbai. After she landed in Oman, the woman was allegedly taken to an "office" by the local agents and kept in captivity for at least a month.
At the time of publishing this story, the woman was still stranded in Oman. The Quint reached out to the Pravasi Bharatiya Sahayata Kendra, which falls under the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and was set up to provide support to Indian expats in need. The Kendra said, "The woman is at the Embassy shelter and following her case with concerned authorities for her early repatriation by Indian Embassy/MEA."
The Quint received the first message – as a voice note on WhatsApp – on 6 June at around 7.30 pm IST. It was a desperate call for help.
The woman reached out to The Quint 35 days after our report on 'How Indian Domestic Helps Trafficked To Oman Were Rescued' was published, in which it was reported that several women from Punjab had been cheated to take up jobs in Oman by unauthorised agents and had faced testing circumstances at the hands of their employers.
Many had claimed that their passports were confiscated, they were locked up for days without food, and were forced to work for long hours without pay. One woman had also alleged repeated sexual assault at the hands of her employers.
The Lucknow woman had received the reporter’s number from one of the women The Quint had spoken to after they had been rescued from Oman.
This is the story of the 40-year-old Indian woman stuck in Oman for nearly six months, and of those like her.
'No Food To Eat, No Water To Drink'
The woman has two children – a 13-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son – who live in Lucknow with her mother. Her husband passed away a few years ago.
The Quint has received eight photographs, including those of other women stranded there, half as many screenshots, and two videos of another woman who was allegedly beaten up by her employer and was tending to her wounds.
In the first SOS WhatsApp message that The Quint received on 6 June, she said over a voice note on WhatsApp, “I am calling from Oman. I am stuck here and I need your help. There is no place to stay here. There is no food to eat, no water to drink.”
She claimed that there are at least 20 more women from India at the same shelter home. The identity of the woman and the name of the shelter home have been withheld for security reasons.
'If They Find Out, They'll Take Away My Phone, Punish Me'
In her voice notes, which are in Hindi, the woman sounds anguished, craving to leave Oman and return home to her children. Every day, she gets access to her phone for a couple of hours. Since 6 June, she has sent SOS voice notes in which she narrates how she is worried sick about her children, her ailing mother, an impending financial crisis at home, and her own fate until she is rescued and repatriated with her family.
It is at this time, around 5.30pm IST, that she stealthily sends SOS messages daily to The Quint.
On 15 June, she sent voice notes and quickly deleted them. "If they find out I am talking to someone for help or the media, they will take away my phone and punish me. They have done that in the past too. They cannot find out," she said hastily. The same day, she shared a screenshot of her live location with The Quint before deleting it minutes after.
A letter for her immediate repatriation from Oman was sent to the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on 13 June 2023 by Rajya Sabha MP Balbir Singh Seechewal. The Quint has accessed the letter.
The woman’s fate, however, still hangs in a balance.
The Quint reached out to the Junior Secretary of Gulf Operations at MEA on 26 June to enquire about the status of the woman's repatriation, and is awaiting their response.
'I Am In Pain, I Can't Eat. Please Get Me Out Of Here'
In her many calls for help, the woman described bleak living conditions at the shelter home, where she along with at least 20 other women from India have allegedly been kept. She said that they too had been deceived by agents in India, who promised them well-paying jobs as domestic helps in Oman.
One of the women – who was rescued and brought back to Moga in Punjab with the help of Seechewal’s team in May – had claimed that there were 14 other women stranded at a shelter home. The Lucknow woman claims to be at the same shelter home.
“I am unwell, there’s something wrong with my spine. I am not sure. I am in pain, I cannot eat. Please get me out of here,” the woman said in one of her voice notes.
The woman told The Quint that when she arrived in Oman, she was taken to an “office” by the local agents, who also confiscated her passport and her phone. She alleged that she was kept in captivity and tortured until she signed a bond. She also alleged that the agents used to “mistreat” her and “ogle” at her.
“There is a rule here. If I were to leave the job that the agent finds me, I have to pay a fine of 1,500 Omani Rial (i.e. approximately Rs 3.2 lakh). When I refused to sign on the bond, the agents locked me up in different rooms at the office. They barely gave me any food, tortured me and did not let me talk to my children. I had no choice but to sign it,” she claimed.
The bond, The Quint has learnt, is an employment contract which binds the women to work for at least two years and if they quit before that, they must pay the same amount as penalty.
As per reports and testimonies of rescued Indian women, the employers, referred to as the arbaab (which means boss or master in Persian), treat the women poorly in some cases by making them work long hours, and not paying them the promised sum.
As a result, many women run away from their employers but get penalised for breach of contract. When they cannot pay up, they find themselves shelterless and lost in a foreign land.
'Wanted To End My Life But Thought Of My Kids Stopped Me'
The Lucknow woman told The Quint that she signed the bond hoping to escape the "office" and the local agents. Fortunately, for the three months she worked as a domestic help in Oman, her employer treated her well but her health deteriorated and her employer asked her to go back to the "office."
"When the arbaab or a prospective employer comes to the office to employ one of the women as a domestic help in his house, he pays 1,500 Omani Riyal to the local agent. If my arbaab sent me back the office, I would have to pay the same amount as fine. But I didn't have any money. So I ran away to the (Indian) Embassy," the woman explained.
The woman has been at the shelter home for over two months now. She said that there are other Indian women there too but no one is allowed to step outside. She described that at the shelter home, they all live in one place, clean their rooms and bathrooms, make their own meals – two meals, plus tea and snacks twice a day. But the woman is anxious about her children and desperate to return home.
“On many occasions, I have come to the brink of ending my life. But somehow the thought of my children has stopped me,” she told The Quint via a voice note.
She had gone to Oman from Lucknow via Mumbai in December last year. A single mother, she is the sole earning member of her family.
The woman has two children – a 13-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son – who live in Lucknow with the woman's mother. Her husband passed away a few years ago.
(Illustration: Vibhushita Singh)
The woman said that her mother – who was looking after her children in Lucknow – has now taken ill and is at a hospital in Kanpur, her estranged brother had informed her. Currently, the neighbours are looking after her children.
“I just keep thinking about my mother. How will I live with myself if something were to happen to her? My children are also young. They do not know that I am stranded here. If they find out, they will get worried. I have no financial support. I feel so helpless. Please do something,” she told The Quint in a voice note on 15 June.
'Don't Want Other Women To Be Fooled The Way I Was'
The Lucknow woman claimed that there are at least 20 other women from India at the shelter home with her. She shared videos on WhatsApp with The Quint where women are seen sitting on the floor with their luggage lined up against the wall. They can be seen sitting in groups and talking.
In another video, a woman can be seen rubbing her bruises. She alleged that she had been beaten up by her employer using barbed wire. There were bruises on her leg and right above the knee.
In another video, a woman can be seen rubbing her bruises. She alleged that she had been beaten up by her employer using barbed wire. There were bruises on her leg and right above the knee.
(Illustration: Vibhushita Singh)
In her voice notes, the Lucknow woman said that all these women are desperate to return to India.
“I want to stop other unsuspecting women from coming here on the pretext of a job. I want to warn them, I want to tell them to stay put and stay close to their family. They don’t know what awaits them here. I don’t want them to be fooled the way I was. I want to take action against the agents who duped me,” she said in one of the voice notes on 15 June.
'Will Leave From Here Alive If Allah Wants'
On 7 June, The Quint approached advocate Gurbhej Singh, a member of Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP’s) legal team, who then reached out to Seechewal.
Acting promptly on the complaint, Seechewal sent a letter to the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) asking for the woman’s immediate repatriation “from the Embassy shelter home to her hometown so that she can look after her children in the absence of her husband.”
As the woman awaits action from the embassy, she said her patience and hope is wearing thin. “I have resigned my fate into the hands of Allah. If He wants, I will leave from here alive.”
A copy of the letter sent from the office of Rajya Sabha MP Balbir Singh Seechewal to the Ministry Of External Affairs asking for the woman's repatriation from Oman at the earliest.
The identity of the woman and the name of the shelter home have been withheld for security reasons.
(Accessed by The Quint)
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