External Affairs Ministers Sushma Swaraj on Saturday said the government has made arrangements for the return of Tamil woman Kasturi Munirathnam, whose hand was chopped off in Saudi Arabia, to Chennai.
"We have organised return of Kasturi Munirathnam from Saudi Arabia. She is reaching Chennai today," Swaraj said in a tweet.
The 58-year-old had gone to Saudi Arabia to work as a domestic help, hoping that the promised monthly salary of Rs.23,000 would help her to marry off her three daughters, but instead of receiving the promised salary, her employer had her right hand chopped off when the Saui Arabian authorities warned him about receiving a complaint from Kasturi and asked him to clear her outstanding dues.
Kasturi suffered severe injuries on her body and limbs, and was being treated at the Kingdom Hospital in Riyadh.
Kasturi hails from North Arcot near Vellore and had reached Saudi Arabia two months ago.
In August this year, Kasturi was first taken to Damam and later shifted to a house in Riyadh, where only women stayed. She was given a huge and heavy workload and was not even allowed to have telephonic conversations with her relatives in India.
When she once managed to get help from a Tamil Nadu native, she was locked up inside a room and subjected to both mental and physical torture.
Once when she received a death threat from the other women, she tried to escape through the balcony of her room. However, when she got out, her hand was chopped off allegedly by her employer.
Currently, the Tamil Nadu wing of the Indian Social Forum is taking care of her. The Indian embassy in Riyadh has extended all support to her.
An investigation into the incident was carried out by the Al-Sahafa police initially and later on handed over to the Saudi Investigation Bureau, reports from Riyadh said.
Kasturi is the sole breadwinner of her family, which consists of her ailing husband, three daughters and a son.
