An Indian driver, working in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia died under suspicious circumstances due to serious burn injuries and his family back in Hyderabad has alleged that he was burnt to death by her Saudi employers.
The news of the death of 26-year-old Mohammed Abdul Samad, resident of Zehra Nagar in Banjara Hills area of Hyderabad, came as a big shock to the family as they were under the impression that he was undergoing treatment in a Riyadh hospital and recovering.
The fact that he had succumbed to his injuries on April 18 reached the family on Tuesday when a city based political activist received a message from the Indian embassy officials in Riyadh and he in turn informed the family.
Amjadullah Khan Khalid, a former corporator of Majlis Bachao Tehreek and Vijaya Reddy, a corporator of ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti visited the house of the deceased and met his mother Asgari Begum and brother Mohd Abdul Qayum.
According to the family, Abdul Samad had gone to Saudi Arabia on November 19, 2015 to work as a driver with a family but for the last few months he was complaining of torture by her woman employer and other family members.
“He last spoke to us on March 28 and told us that he was not paid salary for the last six months. On March 31, we were informed by the employer that he was admitted to King Abdul Aziz Hospital with 75 per cent burns,” said Abdul Qayum.
Since then the family was frantically trying to contact Abdul Samad and the employer to find out his condition.
Meanwhile, Amjadullah Khan took up the issue with the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, State Minister for NRI affairs K Taraka Rama Rao and the Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ahmed Javed.
When the officials from Indian Embassy visited the hospital on Monday, they came to know that Abdul Samad had died on April 18 itself but the Saudi authorities as well as the employer had kept the Indian Embassy in dark.
According to the Indian Embassy officials in Saudi Arabia, Abdul Samad suffered burn injuries after he had an altercation with a male member of the employer’s family.
The shocked family of Abdul Samad has appealed to the External Affairs Minister to order a thorough probe into the circumstances that led to his death and help in bringing the body back to Hyderabad.
The horrifying incident has come to light close on the heels of another shocking report of a Hyderabad woman Salma Begum being sold to a Saudi Kafeel for Rs3 lakh and was facing a lot of harassment and torture at the hands of the Kafeel. The matter came to light when Salma Begum sent a recorded audio message to her daughter Sameena pleading to be rescued.