Indian housemaid in Saudi denied salary

RIYADH: An Indian housemaid who has not been paid for six years by her employer in Saudi Arabia is still awaiting her salary in arrears and a final exit home.

Shamsumma, a native from Kollam district in Kerala, was brought to Riyadh about six years ago by a recruitment agency in Umm Al-Hammam area.

She later started working as a domestic help with a Saudi family, Arab News reported.

She was told that her monthly wage would 900 Saudi riyals (about $240) but this was cut down to 700 Saudi riyals.

According to her, she got payments for four months only and later the employer refused to pay any more wages.

"I was paid for only four months and then suddenly they stopped paying my monthly wage," she said.

She also said that she was not allowed to speak to or contact anyone.

However, two months earlier, she managed to get in touch with a compatriot, a native from Kerala named Jamal who works in Riyadh and he advised her to call her family back home to send a request to the Indian Embassy to lodge a formal complaint.

"My family followed Jamal's advice and with the help of the Riyadh police, the Indian embassy succeeded in tracing my whereabouts," Shamsumma said.

"The employer had agreed to pay 33,000 Saudi riyals and make the arrangements for her air ticket and final exit," an Embassy official said.

Shamsumma has been taken from the employer's house and is currently staying at the government's housemaid welfare centre in Riyadh.