Woman treated as bonded labourer in Oman rescued

CHENNAI: A woman who went to Oman for housekeeping work last year was treated as bonded labour. Rescued by the Indian embassy, she reached the city airport on Monday.

Sujatha Jasmine of Tiruvottiyur went to Oman in May 2022 for housekeeping work with the help of a few agents. After joining work, Sujatha was asked to work for 21 hours a day. When she couldn’t, she was treated badly.

When Sujatha informed her parents, they contacted the agent who sent her to Oman. The agents asked them to pay Rs 1.5 lakh to cancel the bond and bring her back to India.

Sujatha’s parents gave money to the agents but even after that, she was not released from work. Later, her parents sought the help of the State government representatives; even a letter was sent to the Union government to take steps to rescue her from Oman.

Based on the orders of the Union government, the Embassy in Oman rescued Sujatha, who she reached the city airport on Monday night.

While interacting with the media at the airport, Sujatha said that she was earning Rs 30,000 per month in Chennai. “Since they offered Rs 5,000 extra in Oman, I decided to join there. But, after joining work, I was paid Rs 22,000 Indian money and was treated as bonded labour,” she recalled, and requested people not to believe such job offers in foreign land.