The Thiruvananthapuram airport early Saturday morning witnessed dramatic scenes of tearful reunion as three Kerala youths who suffered physical torture in the hands of their employer in Saudi Arabia returned to the State and into the arms of their dear and near ones.
The three youths, Abhilash, Baiju and Vimal Kumar, hailing from Harippad in Alappuzha district could return to the safety of the home state following the timely intervention of the External Affairs Ministry and the Kerala Government.
The plight of the three youths, who had gone to Saudi Arabia through an allegedly fraudulent placement agency, had come to light after a Whatsapp video of the Saudi employer beating them up with a wooden plank at a brick manufacturing unit in Abha surfaced. The video had come out in the visual media also.
The incident caught the attention of the External Affairs Department and State Government which intervened effectively. The Saudi Government reportedly
intervened in the matter following requests from New Delhi. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had said the three men had been given police protection and the issue was being taken up with Saudi authorities.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy also had assured that the three young men would be brought back at the earliest. The placement agency, in which a Keralite is reported to have been involved, had taken them out promising them job in Yemen but it allegedly dumped them in Saudi Arabia.
“I had gone to the Gulf with a lot of dreams. I had taken a home loan and I was hoping that the employment abroad would help me repay it fast. It is not going to happen now. I don’t know what to do,” said 21-year-old Abhilash.
“We are happy that he is back and so are the other two. Indeed, our dreams have shattered but we thank God and the authorities for returning him safely. All other things are of secondary importance,” said a relative of Abhilash.