Bahrain Mirror: The Independent said that Indian women are being sold like products in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia for low prices.

The british newspaper quoted India's Welfare Minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy, who said that Indian women are being sold for just £4000 in Saudi Arabia (about 2,200 BD) and £2000 in Bahrain (1,100 BD).

Reddy claimed that women from the southern Andhra Pradesh region of India "are being held in horrific conditions in Gulf state jails after fleeing their husbands and employers."

In a letter to India's foreign minister, Reddy appealed to the national government to protect women from overseas recruitment agents who sell them on as if they came from a "retail shop" after luring them from their homeland on the promise of triple pay.

Female migrants in Saudi are tricked into overstaying their visas and jailed on petty offences while their cases are heard before being sold to the highest bidder, the minister alleged.

According to the newsletter, more than twenty thousand Indian women have been detained in poor conditions having travelled from Andhra and neighbouring state Telangana, indicating that complaints of physical abuse, mistreatment, non-payment of salary and denial of fundamental human rights.

Reddy confirmed that more than 25 women currently in Gulf jails have sought help from the government, adding that necessary steps should be initiated to bring them to their native at the earliest possible opportunity.

"Instructions should be issued to Indian embassy officials in Gulf countries to interfere in the matter and provide necessary help in terms of food, clothing and shelter," he further stated.

In response the Indian government confirmed it would send ministers to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain next month to investigate the conditions migrants are being held in.

Arabic Version