HYDERABAD: When Mohammed Akhil Bin Ali, a 25-year-old resident of Falaknuma left for Malaysia with three other men from the state on December 15, 2011 after being promised a decent job there by an agent, little did he know that the next two months would be his worst nightmare. Akhil, a medical store employee, jumped at the opportunity when he was told by the agent that he could get a job at a tissue paper company in Malaysia with a monthly salary of Rs 12,000 to 18,000. All he had to do was pay Rs 55,000 to the agent for all necessary documents including visa and his dream of settling abroad would come true.
But once he landed in Malaysia, he and his companions realised that they were sent there on visit visas with three months validity which described them as "garden workers" and were forced to work as waiters and cleaners in restaurants as the agent claimed that the tissue paper company would be closed for 45 days. After working for around 45 days, their employers told them that they were issued employment visas valid for one year with "cook" as their profession and that they would have to work there till their visa expires. It was only after this that the four finally mustered the courage to approach the Indian embassy in Kuala Lumpur which helped them return home on Feb. 14.
Back in Hyderabad, the four registered a case against the agent, Md Junaid Amer, at Falaknuma police station. Amer is said to be in police custody.
Manish Kumar Sinha, DCP, South Zone informed, "This is the ninth case registered in the past two weeks. The complaint was filed under Section 420 of IPC. We have started a drive to arrest such agents and so far have arrested 11 agents and seized nearly 100 passports and other documents so far."
One of the four victims, Akhil, said, "I had to wash 300 plates and clean 18 toilets daily. I slipped on a staircase while carrying a bag of rice and broke my right leg, but they refused to take me to hospital and forced me to work in that condition. Only after 15 days when my leg was swollen to such an extent that I could not move, they took me to a doctor." Another victim, Feroze Khan (28) said, "We were all put in different restaurants so that we would not team up. We should have understood the ploy when we were made to wait at the airport there from 7 am to 3 am next day on arrival. They made us work for over 13 hours a day without any breaks or holidays. Our salary was 750 ringgits which is around Rs 12,000 but the employer there said that we had to work there for a year and six months' salary would be taken by him for payment towards the employment visa. As soon as we got our first salary, we fled."
For the other two, Mohammed Mazher and Amjad Khan, residents of Mahbubnagar, it was worse as they did not receive even one month's salary. Mazher said, "They threatened to beat us, not give us food and throw our clothes out if we did not work. My feet had blisters from constantly being submerged in dirty water in the kitchen, but I was not allowed to take any rest. Some of those wounds are still healing."