Mumbai, January 11: In yet another instance of youngsters’ Gulf dreams turning into a nightmare, two young men from Mohammad Ali Road, who were promised lucrative jobs in Qatar, now find themselves enslaved in Saudi Arabia.
The brothers take care of camels in the blazing heat of the desert without any remuneration or even adequate food and water. Their attempts at escape and their family’s efforts to get them back have proved futile.
Anis Palekar (28) and his younger brother Habib (25) spoke to their uncle Iqbal Murudkar, who runs a business in Dubai, on Monday and said they were assaulted by their kafil (employer), Ali Saleh Al Marri, as he was upset over attempts being made to secure their freedom.
“We are worried that the kafil might kill the boys. He had threatened he would not release the boys until they complete two years and that and that they would not be paid,” said Iqbal, who is currently in the city.
According to Iqbal, Anis and Habib left for Qatar in the first week of July after Marri promised them jobs as a driver and a housekeeper.
However, within four days of reaching there, Marri took them to Saudi Arabia on the pretext of getting them a better job. He told them they would come back to Qatar after working for six months in a garden there.
-Agencies