A 27-year-old Kenyan woman who is being held captive at Jida, Saudi Arabia has called on government agencies to move with speed and rescue her before she dies from starvation and failing health.
According to her sister Herina Maku Tsuma, the woman identified as Lear Salima Tsuma is being held against her will after she fell ill and was unable to work for a Saudi Arabia employer who is now demanding a refund of Ksh300,000 from her family before she allows her to fly back to the country.
Tsuma added that her sister had travelled to Saudia Arabia on, July 6 this year after her employer successfully paid for her visa and other requirements.
“Upon her arrival at her employer’s house, she fell ill after two weeks due to being overworked and lack of food. Since she is unable to work they have decided to hold her captive as a way of punishing her until they get a refund of the money they had used to facilitate her travel for a two-year contract that she and the employers had agreed on,” she said.
She now claims that she is yet to hear from her sister for the past two weeks, and during her last communication with her, she requested her to reach out to a pastor to pray for her safe return.
“We are worried we haven’t heard anything from her for the past two weeks our fear is she may die in a foreign land. She is being starved and whenever she cries for help she gets a beating. We now appeal to government agencies to intervene and bring her back home alive,” the teary sister pleaded.
The family has since reported the matter at Likoni police station under OB number 10/31/07/22 where police officers at the station advised the family to seek help from non-governmental organizations saying their hands were tied.
The family further said that efforts to reach her employer alongside a Mombasa-based agency that facilitated her travel was futile.
“Upon her arrival before she bought a sim card for Saudi Arabia, she used to communicate to us using her employer’s number, however, after several attempts to reach out to her, and enquire about her whereabouts she blocked us without saying a word, “ Tsuma added.
