Hundreds of Bangladeshi women working as domestic helps in Saudi households have accused their employers of committing severe physical, mental and sexual abuses. DW spoke to some of the women about their plight.
“Once I returned to my country, I had to get admitted into a hospital for 20 days. I could not even walk,” said 25-year-old Shefali Begum, a Bangladeshi domestic worker who spoke with DW about the terrible suffering at the hands of her employer in Saudi Arabia.
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She is just one of the thousands of Bangladeshi domestic workers who have migrated to the Middle Eastern nation over the past several years in search of higher wages and a better life.
“They used to beat me with wires and canes. My thighs are full of marks of torture,” Shefali said. Her employers also provided her food only once a day, she complained. “Whenever I asked for food, they beat me.”
Shefali hails from a small village in Manikganj district, located in central Bangladesh. Her travel to Saudi Arabia was arranged by a middleman back in her village. After arriving in the country, however, it was not long before her hopes of a better life were shattered. She said she managed to endure her employer’s torture for just three months.
“The day before the recruiting agency sent me back to Bangladesh, my Saudi employer severely beat me. The daughter of the house’s owner even broke my finger. I was sick,” Shefali said.
“My employer’s family threatened to cut out my tongue and kill me if I exposed their wrongdoings to anyone. They did not allow me to even talk to my family on phone,” she said, adding that the family did not pay her full wages.
For more read the full of article at The Dw
