Another sorrowful tale of a woman from Tamil Nadu who went to work as a maid in Saudi Arabia has come to light.
Dhakshayini, a mother of two children aged eight and five and separated from her husband, left the confines of her mother’s home in Tondiarpet to work as a maid in Dammam in Saudi Arabia. Barely a few months later, she jumped from the balcony of the house she was working in unable to bear the torture she received at her employers’ hands.
Admitted in Stanley Government Hospital on Wednesday, the woman said she went to New Delhi in March and then from there to Dammam, where was employed in a household with a couple and their five children. “From day one, I was beaten up. I had to work long hours. I could sleep only after everyone slept, which mostly was well past midnight,” she recalls.
“Once, I escaped from the home and tried to lodge a complaint with the police station. But the policemen were unresponsive. They told me to go back or face imprisonment. So I went back and they beat me up more,” she rues.
Unable to bear the torture, she jumped from the balcony and was injured in the spinal cord. Admitted to a hospital there, she underwent a surgery.
An NGO brought her to Chennai and she admitted to Stanley Hospital on June 16.
“She is recovering well. She might be kept under observation for another 10 to 15 days,” said Isaac Christian Moses, Dean, Stanley Hospital.
Solatium
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has announced a solatium of Rs. 10 lakh to her.
Considering her family background, Ms. Jayalalithaa ordered the deposit of Rs. 10 lakh in her name in the Power Finance Corporation so that she could get Rs. 8,125 monthly interest.