VIJAYAPURA: Sachin Jangamshetty and Vishal Selar returned to India after a six-month ordeal in Kuwait, where they had gone in search of jobs about six months ago.
The two youngsters from Adavisangapur village in Babaleshwar taluk said they had gone to Kuwait through an agent as vegetable packers. “We were told we would be working for a company and would be paid 100 Kuwaiti dinars per month. In Indian currency, we would get around Rs 32,000. We were excited to work for a decent salary,” said Sachin Jangamshetty.
He told the media that all their excitement turned to disenchantment and further into a nightmare when they were forced to work as shepherds and caretakers of a camel herd in Kuwait. “We never thought the agent in Mumbai would cheat us. He collected Rs 1 lakh to send us to Kuwait. Even Kafeel (the local sponsor) cheated us by forcing us to work as shepherds in the desert,” Vishal said.
Vishal said local agents forced them to spend the entire day grazing camels and did not even provide meals. “They took away our passports and we were not allowed to speak over the phone during the day. We used to talk only at night to our families,” he said.
When they brought the matter to the notice of their relatives, the families spoke to local leaders. “They came to us for help. We met MP Ramesh Jigajinagi and urged him to take up the matter with the Centre. The MP wrote to the Ministry of External Affairs and Prime Minister’s Office,” said former ZP President Umesh Kolkur, one of those who took up the case. Sachin said the letter helped them, as Indian Embassy officials called. “We hired a taxi and reached the embassy. The officials took care of us and arranged our flights,” they said.