Three men from Kodavilakam village in Nagapattinam district have sought help from the central government after being allegedly tortured by their employers in Saudia Arabia. K Kalaivannan, V Ebenezer Lucas and Raman went to Saudi Arabia in May 2015 following promises of getting a driver’s job. They, however, claim that they were duped by their employers and are being forced to work as shepherds.
In a self-recorded video Kalaivanan appeals to the Indian government to rescue them and bring them back to the country.
Talking about the torture, he said in the video:
The employer took us to a place in Riyadh and told us that we have to work as shepherds. I told the employer that I won’t work as a shepherd. The owner used to repeatedly hit me and he locked me inside a room in his house. They did not give food or water. I could not bear the hunger so I agreed to work as a shepherd.
He was sent to a relative’s house to work as a shepherd. There also he was repeatedly hit by the employer and was not given proper food. In the seven-minute video, he says:
One day, a lamb died and the employer strangled me with a steel cord used for tying the bundles of grain. He told me that if I do not work properly, he will kill me.
He also requested help from the Tamil Nadu government.
Kalaivannan fears that if they are there for few more months, they will be killed by their employers. The district administration has sent a report to the Tamil Nadu government.
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