Mumbai: Domestic helpers are often taken abroad for employment where they are at the mercy of their employers. One such story is of 41-year-old Sumati Kotian, who was abused and tortured for eight months by her employers in Abu Dhabi.
It all began when she started working as a domestic help in the Lewis household in Abu Dhabi.
“They used to beat me up. For any small thing I did they used to burn me. They didn't give me food. I had to eat the excreta of the kids and I had to sleep in the bathroom,” said Sumati.
Apart from being physically abused, Sumati was confined to the house and wasn't even allowed to speak to her husband in India.
It's only when she fell ill last month that Sumati was sent back penny-less, with a fractured finger and a dislocated shoulder.
However, when CNN-IBN spoke to Sumati's employer, she denied all the accusations. In fact, the family had accused Sumati of stealing from them. It was in an article that appeared in the Gulf Press, an accusation, an Indian Customs Officer refuses to believe.
“We took her to Cooper hospital and she underwent 21 days of medication. We have asked the Indian ambassador to help,” said preventive officer at Indian Customs, Anson Thomas.
Even as she lies in a battered state there are two things weighing on her mind: to bring her life back to some semblance of normalcy and punishment for those who have made her existence one of misery and pain.
“Please ask the Government to help me. We are very poor, there is no electricity in our house,” said Sumati.
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