How Punjab's Trafficked Women Sent SOS Texts From West Asia To Escape

It's unfortunate that a crime like trafficking in India is not just sidelined and not taken seriously but also increasing by the minute. While very few measures are carried out effectively across the country to help protect the vulnerable, in one such situation, survivors from West Asia are sending a cry for help to the authorities to find a space route.

In a recent update, a woman trafficked from Punjab's Phillaur and placed in Dubai sent a video SOS message to Indian authorities alleging that an agent wrongfully sold her.

Punjab Trafficked Women Send SOS

The incident came to light when the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) received updates on SOS texts coming in from Dubai. The complaints, which have started to grow in large numbers, are majorly pouring in from West Asia.

One of the senior officials working in the office of the Protector of Emigrants under the Ministry told The New Indian Express that they have been receiving such complaints in huge amounts and necessary steps are underway to ensure similar incidents don't arise. "We have issued instructions to the authorities to spread awareness about such frauds," he said.

Cry for help from Dubai

In an incident that's come to light and surfaced the wrongdoing that is underway in the state of Punjab, a 33-year-old woman  Phillaur in Jalandhar sent an emergency video message to India. She alleged that an agent based in Jalandhar had promised he would get her a job as a domestic worker in Dubai, however, sold her o another person when she landed in Dubai. She alleged that she was sold for thirteen thousand Dirham (about three lakh rupees).

The video shows the woman sobbing and narrating her ordeal. She can be seen pleading with the Indian authorities to bring her back to the country and rescue her. She alleged that her employers were neither paying her nor letting her leave and that she needs to do something to help her poor family back home.

Nearly 500 women sold to West Asia in the past five years

This isn't a single case that has been reported lately, a string of complaints coming in from West Asia surface the reality of how women are sent abroad on the pretext of a job but are sold by agents in exchange for huge sums of money.

Sources confirm that over 500 women from states including Punjab and Haryana were sold to people in West Asia. A 44-year-old woman sent an SOS message last month from Saudi Arabia revealing that she was sold to someone in the region after she arrived to work as a cosmetic help in order to earn money for her physically challenged spouse's treatment.

At a time when violence against women is at an all-time high, these incidents show the horrific side of crime that is systematically carried out against women.

The rot is deeper than what's in the mainstream news because these stories get buried and the survivors remain stranded for years. S P Singh Oberoi, a Dubai-based businessman and social worker confirmed the state of these women in West Asia highlighting how over a hundred women still remain stranded at the Muscat embassy. While the matter has been taken up by necessary authorities in India, the measures taken to bring back home these women have been few to none.

Suggested reading: Girls Trafficked In Rajasthan To Settle Village Disputes. When Will We Value Women?