Thanks to the efforts of the Mumbai police, a social activist and a mid-day report, 28-year-old Rehana (name changed) was brought back home safely



Rehana is safely back home

After 20 horrifying days — that could only be described as hellish — it finally turned out to be a cracker of a Diwali for the Masood family. Thanks to the efforts of the Mumbai police, a social activist and a mid-day report, 28-year-old Rehana (name changed), a healthcare professional who was on October 6, duped into servitude as a maid in Rafha, Saudi Arabia, was brought back home safely.

The ordeal

On October 24, mid-day had reported about the predicament Rehana had found herself in after being promised a lucrative job as a nurse by two recruitment agents Jamil Akhtar and Firoze, only to reach there and discover that she was expected to work from 4 am to 11 pm and take care of all the household chores of a family of over 20 members.

Also Read: Mumbai Crime: Nurse lured to Saudi Arabia ends up as slave

When mid-day met up with a visibly shaken Rehana, she narrated her tale of horror. "In 2011, I found out that my husband had three other wives and in fact, had no source of income. Taking a bold step, I left his home. With no money, my two children had to drop out of school. So it was a dream come true when the agents offered me the job. It was only after reaching there that I was told that I would be working as a 'khadima', an Arabic word meaning maidservant. But, I did not anticipate that I would be forced to scrub, clean, and iron clothes in the middle of a desert. For food, we were given leftovers, mainly camel meat, that resulted in my rectal bleeding," said Rehana.

Elaborating on her ordeal, she went on, "The kafil (head of the family), kept saying that he had purchased me for R2 lakh, and was instigated by the agent to hurt me physically when I resented the work. Luckily, his wife took pity on me and intervened."

Ray of hope

Rehana had lost all hope, when on October 9, she received a call from PI Baliwant Deskhmukh of DN Nagar police station and was told about the FIR and Jamil's arrest. "It was only after coming home that I came to know that activist Aaftab Siddique helped my family in arranging my return." Back home now, Rehana said that despite all her hardships, Mumbai is the only place she would rather be. "I will now find work here and fulfill my dream, rather than be in a place where there is no name or izzat (dignity)."