Yet another case of alleged torture of Indian domestic help reported in Saudi Arabia

Coimbatore: A fresh instance of alleged torture of an Indian domestic help in Saudi Arabia has come to light days after the case of a maid from Tamil Nadu who claimed she had had her hand chopped off by her employer in the Middle-Eastern country. [caption id=“attachment_2509518” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The family of 55-year old Rajalakshmi said the Indian domestic help was in police custody in Riyadh after fleeing her workplace as she had no passport or travel documents. Her daughter, Gomathi, pleaded for immediate government intervention for her rescue and return to India. The latest claims of “torture” of a woman worker from Tamil Nadu has come to light barely days after Kasturi Munirathinam returned to Chennai after her right hand was chopped off allegedly by her employer in Saudi Arabia. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had taken up Kasturi’s case with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and, following efforts by the External Affairs Ministry, she was brought back to Chennai on 7 November. Kasturi’s case had sparked outrage and brought back into focus the plight of Indian workers, especially women, in some of the Gulf nations even as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj termed such instances unacceptable. Gomathi, in a petition submitted to District Collector Archana Patnaik, said her mother had contacted her on the phone last Friday and said she was in police custody after escaping the house of her employer where she was unable to bear the “torture”. She said her mother was sent to Riyadh to work as maid by an agent in February last. She alleged that Rajalakshmi’s employer did not give her proper food and tortured and assaulted her daily without any reason while making her work 18 hours a day. The employer had also given only Rs 15,000 in wages to her mother during the last eight months, Gomathi said. PTI