KOCHI: Probing the trafficking of three Malayali women, who were rescued after being sold to Kuwaiti families, the state special branch (SSB) has found that over 100 women are still trapped in the houses of arab families in the Gulf country. The investigators have learnt that the racket recruited the women between December 2021 and February 2022 after pasting posters across Kerala inviting applications for jobs as baby sitters and hospital staff in Kuwait.
While there are no specific details about the women who have fallen prey to the false offers, the police have managed to identify two more women – one from Kollam and the other from Ernakulam — who escaped from the racket in Kuwait and returned home following the intervention of a Malayali organisation there. The two women told TNIE that the human-trafficking racket seized their passports when they reached Kuwait.
“Only after reaching there did we realise that they had taken us to work as domestic maids for Arab families,” said one among them. “When we objected, the racketeers threatened to put us in jail by foisting fake cases. We were scared and didn’t know what to do in a strange place. We saw many other women who were brought to Kuwait in a similar fashion. A few were even seen arguing with the racketeers.”
She said the Arab family for whom she worked agreed to relieve her from the job when she threatened to kill herself at their house.
“But the racket wanted me to work in another place. They sent me back home only when a Malayali organisation intervened after my husband contacted them,” she said. The other woman said she was taken to Kuwait via Dubai on February 5 but she protested and managed to return on March 4.“Life there was hell. I protested vehemently. Many like me are still trapped there,” she said. The husband of another woman who escaped after he sought the help of a Malayali organisation in Kuwait, said he has received many calls from other women seeking help. Advocate Nishin George, who submitted complaints to various agencies about the racket on behalf of him, said many women are unable to share their locations.