A woman from Dharwad district, and a mother of two, who has recently returned to India from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia narrates a tragic tale of being tortured by a family where she worked as a domestic help for five months.
Times of India reported that Savitri Indore says that she was not given her salary, beaten for months and also made to sleep outside the house.
TOI quoted Savitri saying, “I was working in a big house with three girls and two senior citizens, including a woman. For a week, everything was good, but things began to change. I would work 16 to 18 hours a day, sweeping the house, cleaning utensils, washing the floor, toilets, polishing shoes, and other odd jobs. Without any reason, they started thrashing me every day. When I asked for food, my employer beat me with shoes and sticks. I faced this humiliation every day for four months. I was thrown out of the house at night and only allowed to sleep inside when it rained heavily.”
According to the newspaper report, hoping an offer of Rs 30, 000 per month would end her family’s financial woes, Savitri left for Riyadh in July 2015. But her salary was not deposited to her account for the five months while she was working there. She was instead beaten if she asked for her salary.
“I worked for five months but I wasn't paid. I also begged my employer to send me back to India, but he refused. I somehow managed to call my husband and told about my problems. After lodging a police complaint against the agency which sent me here, arrangements were made to send me back. My husband paid for the ticket,” she said.
Her husband, Parashuram worked as a caterer in Udupi and came to Kalghatagi where he was a daily wage labourer. She came to know of the job from her sister living in Haliyal.
“I borrowed Rs 2-3 lakh to bring my wife back to the village. The agency should return all the money I spent to bring my wife back, and also ensure she is paid for the five months she worked there,” he said.
TOI said that Savitri got a passport to go to Riyadh through a Mumbai-based recruitment agency, said the newspaper report.
“I will never go back. I would rather stay in my village in poverty. There are many like me there who are tortured by their employers. The Indian government should look into this matter,”
This is an aggregated report from Times of India