Woman rescued from bonded labour in Kuwait reaches city

The woman, identified as Ligeswari of Ramanathapuram, is married and have two children. Last year, an agent approached Ligeswari offering a housekeeping job in Kuwait. He said the employers would take care of the stay and food. As her husband did not have a permanent job, Ligeswari decided to go to Kuwait to take up the job and left in December, 2018.

When she reached there, two men picked up her and made her work in a house. Sources said Ligeswari was treated as bonded labour, forcing her to work for nearly 20 hours every day. She was not even provided food properly, nor was she paid salary for the work.

When Ligeswari approached the agents, they allegedly beat her up and locked her in a darkroom. She was told to pay Rs 2 lakh if she wanted to be relieved from work. Learning about this, her family managed to pay Rs 1.5 lakh but they did not release her even after that.

Meanwhile, a woman from Andhra Pradesh who saw her ordeal, posted on social media. This came to the attention of Kiran Venkat Mathi, a member of the Tamil Nadu Association in Kuwait and contacted the Indian embassy seeking help. A couple of days ago, the Indian Embassy in Kuwait rescued her and the association arranged tickets for her to return to India. On Tuesday, when Ligeswari landed here, she was received by the National Domestic Workers Movement at the airport. The organisation arranged transport for her to return home in Ramanathapuram.