A Hyderabad woman, Fareeda Begum (49), who is stuck in Oman allegedly after being trafficked there from Dubai on the pretext of a job offer, got 'shelter' by the Indian embassy in the Gulf country. She received the much-needed relief after a Bundi-based activist Charmesh Sharma, working for Indians stranded abroad, wrote to the President, Minister of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and the Indian Embassy in Oman on January 7.
The matter first came to light after videos narrating the ordeal of the stranded woman surfaced on social media.
Begum went to Dubai for work through an agent in November last year but 21 days later she fell sick there. The videos claimed that despite the woman was not well, the agent sent her to Muscat. Her sister Famida, in the video, was seen as saying, "Her health is continuously deteriorating and she is unable to even talk on the phone now. I request the Indian Embassy to rescue my sister and bring her back home."
The activist alleged that instead of sending Fareeda back to India after she fell sick, the agent, Shahanaz, sent her to Muscat.
There the woman’s mobile phone, passport and other documents were allegedly taken away from her and she was forced to work, Sharma said on Thursday.
He said that the Indian embassy in Oman took note of the complaint and the welfare officer at the embassy Pradeep Kumar responded to his complaint on Wednesday.
The officer told him that Fareeda visited the Indian Embassy on January 8 and she was provided accommodation at the embassy shelter in Muscat along with boarding and lodging facilities, Sharma said.
“Her matter is being actively pursued with the local authorities for her early repatriation to India,” the embassy’s letter said, according to Sharma.
(With PTI inputs)
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