Udupi: With host of dreams packed in her eyes, Jacintha had bid adieu to her family in Udupi, for she wanted to knit a beautiful and a comfortable life for them. But, very little did she know that she has to taste hell if her family had to experience the comfort that he hoped to gift them.

On June 19, 2016, Jacintha from Mudarangadi left to Qatar to work as a domestic maid, but she realised that she was cheated when she actually landed in Saudi Arabia. Very little did she know that she was sinking into a bottomless well, which was dug for her by James D’Mello, an agent from Mangaluru and a Mumbai based agency who had sold her to a wealthy Arab as bonded labour for Rs five lakh.

In Saudi Arabia, she was put up at the residence of Abdullah Almathairi. She was told that she had to take care of three households of his three wives and their 28 children.

What unfurled was an ugly episode of torture and atrocities. The inhuman face of Jacintha’s masters had left her in immense pain and the sulks and sighs of Jacintha could never cross the high walls of the Almathairi household.

Starved and fed once in a while with left overs, Jacintha contacted tuberculosis to the extent that she remained coughing up phlegm and blood, but still her plight could not move her masters. For 14 long months Jacintha served her masters, hoping that one day she may smell the fragrance of the soil of her homeland.

Meanwhile, when there was no news about Jacintha, her family members met Human Rights activist Dr Ravindra Shanbhogue, who contacted the External Affair Ministry, NGOs and Human Rights activists and left no stone unturned to make sure that Jacintha returned home. Finally his efforts yielded results and Jacintha was reunited with her family.

Dr Shanbhogue says that Jacintha’s case is only tip of the iceberg. There are 2000 people who fall prey to human trafficking from coastal belt alone, then what might be the numbers that can be proportionate to the nation.