Duped by agent, 10 Hyderabadi women stranded in Dubai

“We are being harassed and made to work for long hours,” Yasmeen said

Hyderabad: Relatives of 10 women from the city, who are reportedly in distress in Dubai after being duped by a travel agent, have sought help from the External Affairs Ministry to bring them back to the country. The women, all from the old city, had gone to Dubai in October through a broker Shafi from Misrigunj.

“We were assured a job at a shopping mall in Dubai and promised a monthly salary of around Rs 40,000 each apart from free accommodation,”

Yasmeen, one of the women, told Telangana Today over phone from Dubai. However, on landing in Dubai, the women were asked to work as domestic helps in different houses. “We are being harassed and made to work for long hours,” Yasmeen said.

The women’s relatives alleged that the agent had “sold” them for Rs 2 lakh each to a company called Al Safeer. Unable to bear the torments, the women contacted their families in Hyderabad, who then contacted the local agent Shafi. “The local agent is demanding Rs 2 lakh for each of the women saying he has to pay the amount to their employers to ensure their safe return,” the relatives complained.

The women, hailing from poor families, were taken on a tourist visa to Dubai by an alleged syndicate that includes the agent from Misrigunj in the city and a few other tour operators. Mohammed Nawaz, a relative of one of the women, said they had also approached the NRI Cell in the Telangana Secretariat and sought help from the State government. “The women are in a state of shock as the Al Safeer company management is demanding Rs 2 lakh each from them for sending them back to India,” said Nawaz.

Meanwhile the police have launched an investigation into what is suspected to be a major human trafficking racket and are making efforts to nab Shafi, who has reportedly gone absconding. Relatives of the women have also lodged a complaint with the police demanding action against him.

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