Kerala

Kerala men brutally beaten up by Saudi employer return to India

Written by : TNM Staff

Days after the video of a Saudi employer brutally beating up three Indian workers emerged, the three men returned to Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday after they were rescued from a brick factory in Abha. 

In the WhatsApp video, a Saudi employer, typically garbed in an all-white dress, can be seen beating the men, who hail from Kerala, with a wooden plank, as if herding a group of animals into an enclosure. 

The three men, B Vimal Kumar (30) and Abhilash Gopi (30) from Muttom near Haripad, along with Byju Babu (26) from Arattupuzha were sent to Abha in Saudi Arabia to work as mechanics and electricians. 

However after reaching there, their parents have revealed that they were forced to work in brick manufacturing units and were kept without food and accommodation. 

"I went there with lots of dream... now I don't know what I will do...need money to build a house , loans to be paid off," one of the men told NDTV

A case has been registered against the local agent who allegedly conned the three men on the pretext of getting them jobs in Saudi Arabia. 

Speaking to The News Minute, Vimal's mother Omana had earlier said, "Since the torture was unbearable, they ran away from the workplace. They were asked to do construction works, but they are actually mechanics. Now they stay in the shop of a Keralite hiding from their sponsor. Shamzad calls and threatens them saying that they would be killed. Vimal is 30 years old and has a 2-year-old child. He was a geyzer mechanic. His father died when he was young and the financial situation was not good. That is why he went, otherwise I would not have let him go." 

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had earlier tweeted to TNM saying she would look into the issue and take appropriate action. 

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