‘Take me back, I cannot take it anymore’

A video footage went viral on social media this Friday, where a Bangladeshi woman is seen pleading the viewers to help her return from Saudi Arabia as she can no longer take the "torture".

"Take me back, I cannot take it [torture] anymore," said the woman identified as Husna Begum, 24, of Anandapur village in Habiganj. She went to Saudi Arabia around two weeks ago to work as a house help for a monthly payment of Tk22,000. 

"I am Husna Begum. Brokers sent me to Saudi Arabia saying good things about this place. But since I have arrived, they have been torturing me. I have been bearing this for many days, but I cannot take it anymore," she says in the video.

She said her employers had started torturing her even more after she asked them to let her go back.

The video was sent to her husband. 

According to Husna's family members, she got married to Shafiulla three month ago. Then she went to Saudi Arabia as they were in need of money. 

The agency that helped arrange everything is named Arab World Distribution. 

Husna, upon being advised by her husband, contacted the agency, but its officials said she could not be sent back before two years, said her husband. 

Shafiullah informed the matter to the Dhaka office of Arab World Distribution, which demanded Tk1 lakh in return for bringing her back. As Shafiullah could not pay the money, he posted the video online as a last resort to help his wife.

Habiganj Deputy Commissioner Mohammed Kamrul Hasan said, "I could try to bring her back through the ministry concerned if her family members provided me with her address in Saudi Arabia and other essential documents."

Brac Information Officer Al Amin said, "Women of our country falling victim to various kinds of torture in Saudi Arabia. Sending house help to the tyrant employers has to be stopped by blacklisting them through the embassy."