Hyd woman dies in Riyadh: Family alleges she had to work for many hours with no pay

The family of Nasreen Fatima said that she wanted to return to India but was not being allowed to do so; and was allegedly being tortured by her employers.

news Human Trafficking

Yet another tale of human rights violation of a migrant from Hyderabad’s old city has emerged from the Middle East. 26-year-old Nasreen Fatima, who was working as a domestic maid in Riyadh, died under mysterious circumstances. The woman was allegedly being exploited and mistreated by her employers, and though she wanted to return home, she wasn’t allowed to.

Her family was informed of Nasreen’s death on May 19. A distraught Ghousia Begum, Nasreen's mother-in-law, has now written to Union Minister for External Affairs (MEA) Sushma Swaraj to help the family.

The family said that Nasreen went to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia on August 7, 2017 to ease the financial burden on the family after her husband Syed Feroze met with an accident. She left to work as a Khadama (house help) in Riyadh through a local agent.

"There was a lot of work pressure. She was being asked to work for 15 hours daily, and had not been paid salary for the last 12 months by her employer. She wanted to return to India but was not being allowed to. We tried to sort out the issue of bringing her back with the local agent and Mumbai agents, but they were not responsive," Ghousia wrote in her letter to Sushma.

The family said that Nasreen last spoke to them on May 14, 2019 and was in tears, pleading to come back.

"Today (May 19) we received a phone call from her kafeel (sponsor) that she has died and her body has been shifted to a hospital. We do not know the reason for the death. She is survived by two minor daughters aged four and two," the letter states.

"Kindly interfere in this matter and ask the Indian Embassy in Riyadh, KSA to inquire the causes of death and make necessary arrangements for sending her body back to Hyderabad. Necessary steps taken in this regard may be informed to us," it adds.

Several cases of illegal and fake travel agents trafficking women from Hyderabad to the Gulf countries have been highlighted in the past. Vulnerable women are identified in Hyderabad, they get their visas in Mumbai, and are then taken to Dubai, before being sent to other places, as part of a massive human trafficking nexus.

Read:

Sold as slaves, tortured in the Middle East: The human trafficking nexus in Hyderabad

Why is Hyderabad police not cracking down on trafficking agents in the city?