Hindustan Times (Patiala)

GURDASPUR WOMAN TRAPPED IN KUWAIT

- HT Correspond­ent letterschd@hindustant­imes.com

A Gurdaspur woman was duped of ₹1.5 lakh by a Delhi-based travel agent who promised her a lucrative nursing job in Kuwait. teh woman, however, was forced to work as a domestic help there. After her plight was highlighte­d on Twitter, Union external affairs minister S Jaishankar has assured help to facilitate her return home.

GURDASPUR: A Gurdaspur woman was duped of ₹1.5 lakh by a Delhibased travel agent on pretext of a nursing job in Kuwait and was forced to work as a domestic help there. After her plight was highlighte­d on Twitter, Union external affairs minister S Jaishankar has assured help to facilitate her return home.

“Raji John has been safely accommodat­ed in the female shelter by our embassy in Kuwait. We are working with the local authoritie­s to facilitate her return home,” he tweeted.

Rani John Stephen, 28, a resident of Alowal village on Dadwan Road 5km from Dhariwal town of Gurdaspur district, is an auxillary nurse midwife. After she contacted the Indian Ambassy in Kuwait, she was sent to a woman asylum there.

Rani happened to meet a group of Punjabi youths in Kuwait and told them about her misery. Rani told the youths that she was illtreated by her employer and therefore she left the house. They tweeted about her plight asking Union foreign affairs minister S Jai Shankar to help her.

While speaking to HT on Thursday, her elder brother Kulwant Masih said Rani had gone to Kuwait about three months ago through a Delhi-based travel agent Mahmood, who had taken a fee of ₹1.5 lakh. Masih said the travel agent had promised her the job of a staff nurse in a hospital in Kuwait. However, when Rani reached Kuwait, she was sent to a house as a domestic help. Masih said she had served at a private hospital in Gurdaspur for over ten years before she went to Kuwait for a better opportunit­y.

He said the family wants that she should be brought back safely to India.

 ??  ?? ■ Rani John Stephen
■ Rani John Stephen

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