KOCHI: A jalandhar native, who was tortured and forced into slavery abroad, arrived at the Kochi airport from Kuwait on Tuesday. Nedumbassery police registered a case based on the complaint of the victim who was cheated after charging Rs 60,000 to take her abroad for household work. Muhammad Shahdul, 25, and Suresh, 25, of Andhra Pradesh were arrested for cheating.
Soon after landing at the airport, the 36-year-old victim approached the immigration office and narrated her ordeal. A case was registered under IPC Section 370 for import, export, buying, selling any person as a slave and Section 420 for cheating.
“The first accused approached the victim offering household job with a good salary in Muscat for which Rs 60,000 was charged from her family. It was on August 1, 2022, the victim reached Muscat from Amritsar. The second accused later shifted the victim to a place in Kuwait where she was lodged at a house. There she worked as a slave and was physically tortured. The victim refused to work further for the employer. She managed to get released from the place and reach Kochi,” a police official said.
Police suspect that rackets based in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are active in the human trafficking activities involved in the case. The police are also likely to refer the case to their counterparts in Punjab as the victim boarded the flight from her native state.
“We’ve multiple cases registered in which people are taken to Kuwait for maid jobs, but face brutal torture from employers. It is revealed that a Hyderabad native was making travel arrangements for the people taken for jobs in Oman and Kuwait. The relatives of the victim will soon reach Kochi,” a police officer said.
This year alone, six cases have been registered for human trafficking through Kochi airport. As many as 28 persons were also arrested.