A Saudi sponsor paid SR70,000 in salary dues to an Indian maid who was in a virtual jail for two decades, the Indian Embassy said yesterday. Mumtaz Begum,45, of Anna Nagar in Tanjore district of Tamil Nadu, came to the Kingdom 20 years ago to support her family. The Saudi sponsor gave her salary only during the first 12 months of her stay in the Kingdom. She did not get a single riyal for the 19 years she spent in the household looking after her sponsors 20 children born to his two wives.

Mohammed M. Aleem, information and labor welfare officer of the Indian Embassy, told Arab News that the mission started taking action on Begums matter following a complaint sent by a Muslim organization in Tamil Nadu. Pleace India-Pravasi Indian Aid Cell, an Indian social service organization based in Riyadh, also brought this matter to the notice of Indian Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao at the open forum organized by the mission in February this year. Pleace India also took up the matter with the Saudi Human Rights Commission, which raised the issue with the governorate in Hail.

The diplomat said the mission took up the case with the Hail governorate and the respective police station in the region. Lt. Col. Basheer Ahmed Al-Anzi from the Hail police station took a special interest in locating the sponsor and through determined efforts took him into custody, Aleem said, adding that such cooperation from the security authorities made the task of the mission easier.