- An Indian woman in Oman alleges forced 15-hour workdays without pay for 3 months
- She claims no mobile phone access for 1.5 months and was subjected to abuse and torture
- The woman escaped her employer and sought help at the Indian Embassy in Muscat
An Indian woman who had gone to Oman's Muscat to work as a housemaid has alleged that she was forced to work for 15 hours daily and has not been paid for over three months.
In a self-recorded video sent to a politician, the woman, Shabnam Begum from Telangana's Hyderabad, said she traveled to Oman on March 26 after a local recruitment agent promised her a job as a housemaid.
She claimed they made her work "day and night" without paying any salary for over three months.
"They also didn't give me a mobile phone for a month and a half," she said in an emotional video sent to a Hyderabad politician, Majlis Bachao Tehreek's Amjed Ullah Khan.
The 26-year-old also alleged that she was "tortured" and "beaten" and denied proper food.
Unable to bear the abuse, she said she escaped her employer and reached the Indian Embassy in Muscat.
She, however, alleged that her agents have taken away her passport and appealed to Amjed Ullah to "save" her.
Amjed Ullah said that she was lured to Muscat to work as a housemaid with a monthly salary of 200 Omani riyals (about Rs 50,000).
"After reaching Oman, she was allegedly forced to work in different houses for 12-15 hours daily, denied proper food and accommodation, and was not paid any salary for four months," he wrote on X and posted her video appeal.
He said that her family has requested External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to direct the Indian Embassy in Muscat to ensure her safety and arrange her immediate repatriation to Hyderabad.
The embassy then responded to his post, saying it has taken "cognisance of the matter."
It is being "taken up at appropriate levels," the embassy added.
The embassy has taken cognisance of the matter and is being taken up at appropriate levels.
— India in Oman (Embassy of India, Muscat) (@Indemb_Muscat) July 18, 2026
Amjed Ullah also demanded that action should be taken against the recruitment agent responsible for "sending her under false promises."
