Hyderabad: The Indian Embassy in
Saudi Arabia is trying to trace an Indian worker from Telangana who has made an impassioned plea in a video which went viral to rescue him from the desert where he was being deprived of food and also beaten up by his kafil (employer). After the video went viral, former minister and TRS working president K T Rama Rao urged union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and India’s ambassador to UAE, Navdeep Suri to help the victim return to India.
Navdeep Suri got back to say that the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia had already responded.
An attempt was made by the embassy to call him on his phone number. “We tried to speak to Veeariah on his number but there is no response,” the embassy said asking for his passport copy, visa page and work permit ID (iqama).
The video of Veeraiah shot somewhere in the desert in Saudi Arabia has moved hearts. Showing the camels in the background, he explained that he was put in the desert to take care of some 100 camels. “It is only I who have to take care of the 100 camels throughout the day and night. I have to milk them too,” he said. Veeraiah said recently one camel had died in the night at 1 am. “The kafil (employer) beat me up badly because the camel had died,” he said.
Veeraiah who identified himself as hailing from Thummapuram mandal in Karimnagar said he had when his mother died recently and he wanted to come to India to perform her last rites, he was not allowed by the kafil. “We are not provided food and I have been starving,” he said. Breaking into tears, he said his wife was also hospitalised in India and there seems to be no way to come home.
The family in his village Makthapalli waited for two days for him to come to perform the last rites of his mother who had died on March 30.
According to reports, Veeraiah had gone to Saudi Arabia in 2017, having taken there by an agent. The family tried to contact the agent who sent him to Saudi but he did not respond to the family.
Meanwhile, Patkuri Basanth Reddy, president of Gulf Telangana Welfare and Cultural Association, said some members of Telugu community in Saudi Arabia are trying to trace Veeraiah. “A worker from Telangana working in Saudi Arabia called up the kafil who demanded to know his credentials and why he called. He, however, refused to divulge any information about Veeraiah,” he said.
Basanth said the area where Veeraiah was working in the desert is close to Jordon border and appears to be a risky place for individuals to venture to reach out to Veeraiah. “The embassy should send a team of officials to trace him and help him,” he said.