'Do not come to Saudi Arabia' – Indian worker allegedly tortured by employers gives warning

A Punjabi woman working in Saudi Arabia has appealed to her country's authorities to help her as she fears for her life due to her employers' alleged abuses.

The woman recounted the alleged torture she has been subjected to for the past year in a video that was later shared on social media. IBTimes UK has not been able to verify the authenticity of the video.

"I am denied food for days. I am being physically tortured," the woman claimed, according to India Today. "They lock me up in a room. Somehow, I had managed to reach the police for help. I was ill-treated by police officials as well. They kicked me out from the station and I was again thrown back in the same house."

The alleged victim, who has not been identified, appealed to MP Bhagwant Mann, from the Aam Aadmi Party in Sangrur, to rescue her.

"Bhagwant Maan Sahab please help me. I am in pain here. I am in a trouble. I am being tortured from the past one year," she said.

"You had also rescued a Hoshiarpur girl. Please rescue me as well. I am like your daughter. Please help me. I am badly trapped here. I never knew that this will happen to me," she continued.

The woman is thought to come from a poor family in India's Punjab region. She moved to Dawadmi town, around 200km west of the capital Riyadh, one year ago.

"I have children too. I want to go back to them. My mother is unwell, and she has to undergo an operation. Please help me. I don't want to live here. Rescue me from here. I'm being physically tortured. Look at me, these people are very cruel and inhuman," she said.

In the video, she also warned her compatriots against travelling to Saudi Arabia for work.

"These people are very dirty. I advise my brothers and sisters to not to even think about coming here. I have seen very bad days," she said.

Saudi Arabia is a work destination for millions of people from Asian and African countries who seek better job opportunities. The Kingdom has often been in the news for reports of alleged torture at the hands of Saudi employers against foreign domestic workers.

Earlier this month, an Indian woman allegedly tortured in Saudi Arabia was rescued and repatriated by Damdami Taksal, a Sikh educational organisation, the Hinduistan Times reported.

The woman claimed the family she worked for as a maid had tortured her to the point she wanted to commit suicide.

Human Rights Watch has documented several cases of abuses against domestic workers in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, including instances where workers were tortured to death.

Employees subjected to ill treatment can find it quite challenging to report abuses as their freedoms are restricted, their passports confiscated and they are relegated in their employers' houses, where they are sometimes denied food and forced to work for long hours without being able to sleep.

"There are an estimated 2.4 million migrant domestic workers in the Gulf states. While some have decent salaries and working conditions, many of the hundreds of workers I have interviewed told me that their employers forced them to work up to 21 or 22 hours a day with no rest breaks or days off, confiscated their passport, provided little or spoiled food, restricted their communication, and physically or sexually abused them," HRW researcher Rothna Begum said in a June 2017 report.

"Domestic workers' visas are tied to their employers under the kafala (visa-sponsorship) system, and workers cannot leave or transfer employers without their employer's permission.

"If they do, they can be charged with 'absconding' and face fines, imprisonment, and deportation. They are also excluded from labour laws or accorded little legal protection, and many leave without justice or redress," Begum continued.