By BEGENA GEORGE
Published: 7th September 2006
AN Indian housemaid has been rescued after fleeing the home of a couple she says beat her, half-starved her and refused to pay her. Indira Yenked Subbaiah, aged 35, was taken to the Indian Embassy yesterday, after being sheltered for a week by a Bangladeshi couple who found her weeping in the street.
Embassy officials will today meet police and the sponsor, who has reported her as a runaway. Ms Subbaiah came to Bahrain in January this year, to work for a Bahraini family in Isa Town, for a monthly salary of BD40.
She claims to have fled from the house to escape repeated beatings.
By BEGENA GEORGE
Published: 7th September 2006
AN Indian housemaid has been rescued after fleeing the home of a couple she says beat her, half-starved her and refused to pay her. Indira Yenked Subbaiah, aged 35, was taken to the Indian Embassy yesterday, after being sheltered for a week by a Bangladeshi couple who found her weeping in the street.
Embassy officials will today meet police and the sponsor, who has reported her as a runaway. Ms Subbaiah came to Bahrain in January this year, to work for a Bahraini family in Isa Town, for a monthly salary of BD40.
She claims to have fled from the house to escape repeated beatings.
Ms Subbaiah also alleges that she was fed only dried bread and has not been paid for three months.
She fled with a cloth bag containing all her meagre belongings last Wednesday – but did not know where to go.
Ms Subbaiah says she ran into the first open door she saw, which turned out to be a house occupied by Asian bachelors.
They refused to shelter her, but said they would look after her baggage while she went for help.
She was then picked up by an Indian man in a car, who dropped her at the Sacred Heart Church, Manama, hoping she would get help there.
A Bangladeshi couple found her crying outside the church and sheltered her for a week, while they tried to contact charity workers to help her.
“Indira came to Bahrain around nine months ago and has been working with a Bahraini family in Isa Town ever since,” said Surya Charitable and Cultural Association K R Nair.
“Her monthly salary was BD40, but this wasn’t paid for the last three months and she was mostly given only dry bread to eat.
“A lot of brutal physical and mental abuse was inflicted on her by both the sponsor and his wife.
“Her face is black and blue and she is missing a tooth, knocked out when she was punched on the face.
“Her fingers were constantly beaten with the wooden handle of a broom and her head forcibly banged against the wall.
“She also feared for her life when the sponsor told her that her three month salary overdue would only be paid after she died.”
Mr Nair said Ms Subbaiah ran away from her sponsor’s house with her luggage last Wednesday, not knowing where she was headed. “After running for some distance, she is said to have entered the first house she saw with an open door,” he said.
“She was desperately looking for a place to hide, but since this house (probably also at Isa Town) was occupied by some Asian bachelors who refused to shelter her, she was turned away.
“But before leaving, these men supposedly took her luggage and asked her to return in the evening, when they’d return it. “She was offered a ride by an Indian man who drove her to the Sacred Heart Church, in Manama, hoping that she’d get help from someone there.
“But she was too confused about the whole situation and stood on the street crying. “That’s when a Bangladeshi man and his family who were passing by noticed her and offered refuge.
“The kind-hearted folks sheltered her for almost a week, providing her food and clothing, while they were trying to contact a charitable organisation who’d be willing to take up the case.
“But the family did not inform the embassy, because they did not want to be legally tied up with the issue.”
The family contacted Mr Nair on Tuesday. Ms Subbaiah was taken to the Indian Embassy yesterday and Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS) volunteers collected her later in the day to take her to the society’s shelter.
“On Tuesday the family got my contact details from a restaurant and that’s how I was informed about the woman,” said Mr Nair. “The matter needs to be dealt with very severely and the action taken must be a lesson to all who do not know how to deal with a fellow human being.”
Mr Nair said attempts were being made to first locate the Asian bachelors who have possession of her luggage.
An MWPS volunteer said Ms Subbaiah would be sheltered for as long as needed.
Indian Ambassador Balkrishna Shetty said a meeting with the sponsor had been scheduled at the Isa Town Police Station today.
“We were informed that the sponsor had reported her as a runaway at the Isa Town Police Station, so we’ll be attending a meeting to sort out the matter,” said Mr Shetty. The sponsor was not available for comment yesterday.
© Gulf Daily News
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