Asima Khatoon, who moved to Riyadh in December, was working as a maid.
Highlights
- 25-year-old secretly phoned home to say she was being beaten, burnt
- Asima Khatoon travelled to Riyadh in December from Hyderabad
- Telangana government claims it had asked Centre for help in freeing her
A young woman from Hyderabad who was working as a domestic help in Saudi Arabia died due to "natural reasons", the External Affairs Ministry said today. The family of Asima Khatoon, 25, had alleged she was tortured by her employer.
"On receipt of information, our Embassy in Riyadh sent one of its officials to King Saud Chest Disease Hospital, Riyadh, one of the reputed Hospitals for TB, today. He was told by the Mortuary In-charge that she was admitted in the Hospital on 27 of last month and later on shifted to the ICU. The death was due to natural reasons and he was informed that all the requisite documents have been handed over to the sponsor for submission to the Embassy," Foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
Ms Khatoon moved to Riyadh in December. Her mother says that in a secretly made phone call, she detailed how she was being held hostage, burnt and tortured mentally and physically by her employer, identified as Abdul Rahman Ali Mohammed.
"I had sent my daughter abroad to work and earn. My daughter was locked in a room as soon as she reached there. She was not given food. They kept her locked and opened the door in the evening. My daughter used to call me and cry," said Ghousia Khatoon to news agency ANI.
News of her death on May 2 came just days after the Telangana government says it wrote to the Centre asking to help free her from her employer.
Ms Khatoon had travelled to Riyadh after being promised a job at a hospital by the sort of agents who run large rackets based on supplying cheap labour from India to the Middle East. Her family says that Ms Khatoon had been promised that if she did not like the job, she would be able to return home after three months.