Help women trapped in Oman: DCW to Sushma

**Victims ‘thrashed’ by their employers

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has urged the Ministry of External Affairs to rescue 45 Indian women allegedly trapped in Oman.

In a letter to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, DCW chief Swati Maliwal said the women had been taken to Oman by an agent who had promised them nursing work there.**

They were, however, recruited as domestic helps and repeatedly “tortured” by their employers.

They were also made to starve, said the women.

NGO to the rescue

The DCW was informed when the victims registered a complaint with Navshrishti, an NGO associated with the women’s panel.

Among the victims is a 60-year-old woman, who was allegedly brutally beaten up by her employer.

The employers would also allegedly threaten to send the victims to jail whenever they asked to be sent back to India.

‘Passports seized’

The women said their passports had also allegedly been seized, because of which they could not return home. The victims belong to places such as Haryana, Punjab and Pondicherry.

They also claimed that they did not received any assistance from the Indian Embassy in Oman despite repeated requests.