KERALA MONITOR
June - July 2001
Malayali Girl had a narrow Escapes from the Gulf Mafia
keralamonitor.com Forced to give statement in front of Video Camera Cochin: Ending one and half month period saga, a Malayali women from Ernakulam who was recruited by an agent to work in Oman as housemaid, has reached home safely. In a special interview given to keralamonitor , the girl has alleged that even though she was recruited by one Malayali agent -Mr.Maniraj from Ernakula to work as housemaid, he had been behaving badly with her. (View her letter written after reaching Cochin)
"I reached Muscat on June 10 and the (person who recruited me) came to the airport and took me to his house. Since then he had been behaving and talking badly," she said without revealing details. She alleged that he forced her to give a written statement, which was read out in front of a video camera to prove that there is no complaint about the whole episode. The girl was told that she will be put behind bars for her entire life if she refused to give such a statement. "They did not harm me physically, but I faced severe mental torture for one and half months. I never thought I would be able to escape from that place."
"The first day when I asked him where I will be sleeping, he told me that all girls who come to work there sleep in his bedroom." As she refused to obey such commands and was sleeping in a beauty shop (in the same building) till her departure. She also refused to serve liquor to visitors. There is illicit liquor sale and a beauty shop in the same house .
"After the first Asinet news about me, I was taken to the Police Station and to the Indian Embassy." Due to their threats and to escape from the place I told them "I have no problem." After the second Asianet News, they took me again to the police station and Indian Embassy . "I told one Malayali Indian Embassy official (Rahim) about all the problems and he told the problem to the Indian Ambassador. Next day my employer forced me to write a statement saying that I had no problem and this statement was given to the Indian Embassy." "Next day they made me read the same statement in front of a Video Camera. When I refused to make the statement in front of the camera, they threatened me with dire consequences-- I was told that throughout the life, I would be put in prison in Oman. Therefore I obeyed and made the statement in front of the video camera." "Since nobody was there to speak on my behalf or support me in Gulf , I gave such written statements to the Embassy," she said. When she was produced, the Embassy did not call her neighbour who made the first complaint about the case or involve any social organisations.
"They were searching for the people who complained to the Indian Embassy and the correspondent. They threatened me saying that whoever is behind this news will be found out and she will be send home only after that."
The unmarried young Malayali lady (30 years) from a village in Ernakulam district was brought to the Gulf to work as a sales girl in a beauty shop. According to Keralamonitor.com investigations, one Mr. Suresh Kumar, a local visa agent in Ernakulam gave the visa issued by one Mr. Maniraj, who is known to be running a beauty shop in Oman.. She arrived in Muscat on June 10, 2001 and after that the parents had no information about her whereabouts. Inquiries made through a neighbour indicated that the girl was in the custody of some people and according to him the girl might have been locked up in some unknown places.
Due to the repeated efforts made by her neighbours who made a formal complaint to the Indian Embassy and the Royal Oman Police, the lady was contacted for a brief notice and she said wanted to escape from the place. The story was published in the media and the lady was produced before the Indian Embassy where the officials claimed that she was willing to give a written statement saying that there is "no complaint" against anybody.
According anonymous phone calls received at her residence in Kerala, the girl was to be sent back to Trivandrum Airport soon. Another anonymous phone call to the neighbour from a similar lady said the girl is being locked up in a room without giving any food she refused to do what the sponsors wanted her to do.
Even two weeks after this episode, the Indian Embassy officials were keeping studied silence and the girls worried mother did not get any information about her daughter. Her mother sent another formal complaint to the Indian Ambassador informing him about the entire story and the local Malayam media published the story, Indian Embassy officials called the sponsor again and the girl was produced before the Embassy officials. Repeating the same old style, the officials obtained a written statement from the girl saying that "she has no complaint"
A Public Notice issued by an anonymous Gulf based Socio-Cultural Organisation about the Growing number of Malayalis involved in bringing Kerala women as housemaids, office secretaries, cooks, etc to work in immoral trade.View
Other Recent Cases
The story of this Malayali girl is the situation facing a number of innocent girls who are lured into a lucrative immoral trafficking racket from India to various Gulf countries. According to a Kerala based cultural association, there are more than 15 main Malayali agents in Muscat alone who have been regularly bringing innocent girls from different parts of India, mainly Kerala and forcing them to do prostitution.Investigations made by Keralamonitor.com revealed that the flesh trade has grown like a big industry in various Gulf countries and many Malayalis including ladies are engaged in such dubious deals.
Read the case of a Malayali nurse who was brought to one of the Gulf countries by a visa agent who promised her a work in a good hospital. It was only after reaching the Gullf country that the lady realised that she was brought to work as a prostitute. Naturally the good looking girl was unwilling to obey her sponsors and was locked up in a room. Gradually she was forced "to do business" and the way she escaped from the brothel is similar to a Bollywood story. When a sympathetic Malayali customer came to the brothel, she narrated her tragic story to him. As the customer was having a mobile phone with him, the lady made a phone call to the hospital in Hydrabad where she was working and send an SOS to the doctor, who made a complaint to the concerned embassies and other authorites. This girl was fortunate enough to escape from the brothel, but we believe that there are several brothels in various Gulf countries where innocent girls are brought to work in the immoral trade. These girls are totally at the mercy of the Malayali goons who keep them their passport and visa, labour card and they are cut off from the outside world. If any girl is creating problem or intransigent, she will be handed over to "Pakistanis" or "Bangladeshi" gangs. The purpose is to prevent such girls from communicating with Malayali customers.
How the Gang Operates:
The immoral trafficking gang members have a strong network of agents, subagents, pimps, Arab sponsors and influencial contacts everywhere. These agents target economically poor families with good looking girls and promise them lucrative jobs in the Gulf. Girls are given a rosy picture about the potential benefit from the Gulf job as housemaids and some ladies are also employed to lure girls to the racket. It is learned that many of the Malayalis who bring girls to the Gulf region are from the Northern part of Kerala but they target girls from the Southern parts. Travel agents who are specialising in this trade do not recruit people from their locality and attract girls from other regions through local agents. Girls are brought to the Gulf in the guise of working as beautician, housemaids, baby sitters, cooks and even nurses. According to sources, there are main agents who control the flow of girls to the Gilf region and in each country there is a main supplier who give these girls on sub contract basis to brothels in different regions of that country.
In addition to the established players in the market, anybody who failed to make good money in the Gulf are offered lucrative business options: If you can arrange a secure room and bring customers for the trade, the main agent is willing to supply girls on profit sharing basis. In such brothels silently run by Malayalis in residential areas, girls are send for a particular period and taken back after the working hours. In order to avoid problems from law enforcement authorites, the agents also manage to make duplicate marriage certificates from Kerala and Indian embassies.
It is learned that in some of the embassies, corrupt officials are also part of the racket and they arrange marriage certificates for girls brough by the gang. There are several agents who make marriage certificates in return for Rs. 2500 and in case the certificate is needed the same day, the rate will go up to Rs.6000. With the help of such documents, agents and girls are apparently living like a family in residential areas giving no room for suspicion. Even if there is a police raid, the culprits go scot free because they are living as a nromal family. The male members of the family, sometimes an elderly man, bring customers from outside and the business goes normally. There are a number of players in the racket including women, politicians, travel agents and even some highly placed officials.
To be Continued
A Public Notice issued by an anonymous Socio-Cultural Organisation in Muscat about the Growing number of Malayalis involved in bringing Kerala women as housemaids
