Chhatrapur: At least 14 Odia labourers from Ganjam district are stranded in Saudi Arabia after being detained by their employers, a report said Saturday.
The matter came out after the families of the victims met Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange at the collectorate and submitted a memorandum to him demanding the release of the labourers.
The stranded labourers are Sunil Pradhan, Satya Narayan Barad, Prabhat Kumar Barik, Tunguru Pahan, Jeetendra Parida, Santosh Mallick, Susant Kumar Pandi, Bhikari Pradhan, Basant Kumar Prusty, Banamali Jena, Susant Kumar Pahan, Prasant Kumar Nahak, Arun Goud and Prakash Pradhan, all from villages under Beguniapada, Khallikote blocks and other areas.
Their employers are torturing them physically and mentally and refusing to let them go home, it was learnt.
The families pleaded with the Collector to take steps for the safe return of the labourers and showed him a video of the torture of the labourers shared through WhatsApp. The Collector assured them that he will take steps to rescue the labourers.
The families alleged that the labourers were lured by two middlemen Benu Pradhan and Bhagirathi Jena of Bhikapada village with handsome packages to work in Saudi.
The poor labourers paid Rs 1 lakh each to Pradhan and Jena for their visas and other papers and left for the desert country. However, their hopes were dashed after they did not receive salaries and other benefits promised by the middlemen.
In Saudi, they were made to work 12 hours a day instead of the usual eight hours and tortured if they complained. The labourers were brutally beaten up and threatened when they tried to raise the issue of harassment. They were even not given proper food and housed in a most uninhabitable condition.
The families learnt about their ordeal after getting phone calls and the video of their torture via WhatsApp.
PNN
