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Rescue Karnataka nurse pushed into slavery in Saudi: Swaraj to Indian envoy

A kafil in Saudi Arabia demanded $6,398 to free her

Sushma Swaraj

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at Parliament House in New Delhi

Press Trust of India New Delhi
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday asked the Indian envoy in Saudi Arabia to help a nurse from Karnataka who has reportedly been pushed into slavery in the Gulf country.

"Javed : Pls help rescue this lady. @IndianEmbRiyadh," Swaraj tweeted, asking India's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ahmad Javed to help Jacintha Mendonca, the Indian nurse.

As per media reports, a kafil in Saudi Arabia has demanded 24,000 Saudi Riyals ($6,398) to free her.

Replying to a separate query on Twitter, Swaraj said every PIO (person of Indian-origin) cards has to be converted to OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) cards, saying it is mandatory.

 

She also directed the passport division of the External Affairs Ministry to resolve difficulties being faced by a person with disability.

Her response came after one Luv Kher requested to renew a passport of his disabled son.

"@SushmaSwaraj @MEAIndia Kindly approve passport renewal of my divyang son (J9503328), can't visit biometrics. Appl. pending @ RPO GZB Thanks (sic)," Kher said.
 
Responding to the issue Swaraj tweeted, "I have asked @CPVIndia to resolve this".

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First Published: Jun 24 2017 | 12:07 PM IST

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