Hundreds of women from Telangana, AP languish in Gulf

​Visakhapatnam: Telukula Bhavani, a 30-year-old dalit widow from Arilova Colony of the city, and 40-year-old D Amlu of Tirupati, whose husband is a chronic alcoholic, thought of earning reasonable money by working at Saudi Arabia police quarters as housekeepers.

Both of them approached an agent called Srinivas in Hyderabad who sent them to another agent in Saudi Arabia called Vithal and left in November last year, leaving their children in the hands of their parents and relatives.

It did not take much time to understand they were in deep trouble. Soon after their arrival, Vithal snatched their passports and mobile phones and shoved them to work as domestic helps in large families. While Bhavani was employed in Riyadh, Amlu was sent to a place 200 km from Riyadh.

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HIGHLIGHTS:

• Two AP women who were subjected to exploitation, escape from Riyadh and return home
• Cops arrest a Hyderabad agent Srinivas for duping a Vizag native
• Women activists demand arrest of another agent Gajuwaka Srinu

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Bhavani worked for a family having nine grown up male members, two elderly women and another two older men. She was not given food but made to work entire day. “All the male members were demanding sex in the night and if I refuse, they were beating me up. They did not spare even after I got infection in my mouth,’’ Bhavani told The Hans India.

She could convince the oldest member of the family and got his mobile to call her mother. Her mother K Lakshmi immediately approached Commissioner of Police T Yoganand but he expressed his helplessness and suggested her to visit New Delhi and approach Ministry of External Affairs.

However, it was Bhavani’s maternal uncle Y Satyanarayana who made all the efforts to get her back home. He along with some media personnel of Hyderabad and Dalit leaders approached DCP of Bowenpally D Sumathi and lodged a complaint.

The police immediately arrested Srinivas and sent him to remand. But Vithal in Riyadh demanded Rs 1.5 lakh which he paid to Srinivas to get Bhavani to Riyadh. “We did not know that Srinivas sold Bhavani to Vithal. We sold our house and paid Vithal to get Bhavani to India,’’ Satyanarayana said.

He said Bhavani, who earlier worked in Bahrain, returned to India in November last year and became friend to Vizag agent Srinu who lives in Gajuwaka through Facebook. It was Srinu who suggested that there was a lucrative job in Riyadh which would pay her Rs 43,000 per month.

“She fell in his trap and left for Riyadh. However, we are happy that she is back with us,’’ he said. Bhavani arrived here on February 18.

Similarly, Amlu ran away from her employer and sought help from a cloth merchant who hailed from New Delhi.

He helped her to communicate with her family members and returned home. Both the women were on the same aircraft while returning home.

“Thousands of women hailing from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan are languishing in the Gulf countries,’’ Amlu said.

Being a Muslim woman, Amlu could interact with many women from Telangana, Bangladesh and Pakistan at various places and the story of all the women was same-sexual exploitation of worst kind, physical torture, starvation and no pay.

“They are more like prisoners in the hands of rich families of Gulf countries and for many women it is point of no return,’’ said K Padma of Mahila Chetana, who demanded immediate arrest of Gajuwaka Srinu, who is still roaming free.