Indian Minister for External Affairs (MEA) Sushma Swaraj has become a beacon for the ‘distressed’ members of the Indian diaspora trapped abroad. In another case, her active intervention helped in rescuing an Indian woman, Salma Begum, who was reportedly ‘sold and tortured’ in Saudi Arabia.
Sushma Swaraj commended the Indian Embassy in the Saudi capital for ensuring Salma's expeditious repatriation since she'd raised the issue with them on April 24.
"I appreciate the efforts of Indian Embassy in Riyadh for resolving this in just 72 hours," she tweeted.
An Indian newspaper, The Times of India, had first reported the plight of Salma Begum, who had been tricked and sold to her kafeel (sponsor) in Saudi Arabia after she had gone there on a migrant worker visa.
While informing her daughter about her precarious condition through an audio message, Salma said that the agents who had arranged her visa had sold her to the kafeel for INR3 lakh. Moreover, the kafeel was pressuring her for marriage and when she refused, he subjected her to mental and physical harassment.
Salma had also appealed to the Indian government to bring her back to India in the message.
Earlier, Sushma Swaraj spread the message of her rescue through Twitter.
“Indian national Salma Begum has been rescued. She is reaching Mumbai by flight G9406 at 04.15am on 28 April 2017,” Swaraj said in a tweet.
Sushma had also asked Protector General of Emigrants M C Luther on April 24 to take action against the agents who sent Salma to Saudi Arabia.
Two agents, Akram and Shafi, had reportedly arranged for Salma to travel on a housemaid maid visa in January this year.