Thanks to Sushma Swaraj, woman sold as help in Saudi returns to Punjab

Sukhwant Kaur said she was denied wages; her husband approached the MEA for help

A woman from Punjab who was allegedly "sold" to a family in Saudi Arabia as domestic help, returned to India on Wednesday, following the intervention of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Talking media persons at the airport, Sukhwant Kaur revealed that she had flown to Saudi Arabia from India on a valid visa. She said that after having worked there as a domestic help for a month when she asked about her wages she was told that she had been sold to the family by the agent.

After getting stuck there, Kaur narrated her tale to her husband over telephone, who in turn approached the Ministry of External Affairs.

Kaur thanked Minister Sushma Swaraj and others who made her return to her homeland possible.

Members of her family and residents of her Ajtani village near Nurmahal in Jalandhar district were also at the airport to receive 55-year-old Kaur who was sent to Saudi Arabia by a Delhi-based travel agency last year.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday thanked the External Affairs Minister for facilitating her return.

Amarinder promised a time-bound action plan by his government soon to prevent unscrupulous travel agents from duping innocent people like her.

Swaraj had on Tuesday spoken to the Chief Minister to apprise him of the situation regarding Kaur.

The Chief Minister deputed officials in Amritsar to receive Kaur on behalf of the government as she landed at Guru Ram Dass International Airport, Amritsar, ending her ordeal.

The woman, who was forced to work there as a slave, and was badly treated and also tortured, finally succeeded in returning home to be reunited with her family, with the external affairs ministry's active intervention.