A mercenary Indian housewife allegedly made life a misery for a fellow national treating her like Cinderella and sending her out to work as a maid.
The 51-year-old mother is standing trial at the High Criminal Court accused of human trafficking and pocketing everything Cinders earned.
The expat from Tubli, described as a ‘housekeeper’ in court documents, reportedly had the 25-year-old victim work at several households across the kingdom illegally.
She is not only facing human trafficking charges but also charges relating to operating a maid business without the proper licensing or authorisation, and running a recruitment agency without any official paperwork.
The defendant allegedly met the woman, who entered the country through Bahrain International Airport, at her place of residence and carried on abusing her from January 2024 to January 2025.
The court heard, she mistreated her, threatened her with physical violence and made her work in conditions that authorities described as ‘not suiting someone of her profession’.
According to court documents, the victim entered the country using a work permit as a domestic worker that was issued to her by the defendant for a monthly wage of BD120.
The victim was made to sleep on the kitchen floor and was forced to work as a maid for others against her will. She was reportedly forced to work for nine different families over a 12-month period, something that the defendant had no authorisation to allow.
The 25-year-old was reportedly denied her rightful salary even as she worked for other families, and the defendant eventually ended up pocketing all the money, amounting to about BD800.
Cinders also reportedly had her passport taken away, so that she would not attempt to flee while she was forced to work for the other families.
The alleged victim’s fortunes finally changed, when she reportedly broke down and managed to explain her situation to one of the families who was unaware of her plight.
According to court documents, she was helping a 35-year-old Bahraini man and his mother when she begged for their help.
The man explained to officials that his mother had agreed to a deal with the defendant to have the victim work as a maid on a monthly basis, and that the defendant herself dropped the victim off.
The victim worked for the family for about two months, and then she told the family she did not want to return to the defendant, stating that she was allegedly physically assaulted multiple times and was forced to work against her will.
The kind-hearted family immediately informed the authorities, who in turn launched an investigation leading to the arrest of the defendant.
Evidence was gathered, including more than five voice notes of the defendant allegedly threatening to physically harm the victim.
During yesterday’s hearing, the victim was scheduled to give her testimony, but it was revealed that she struggled to speak English, Arabic or Hindi, and only spoke in Telugu, spoken in India’s Andhra Pradesh.
During the investigation process she had been helped by a worker from the Labour Market Regulatory Authority.
The case was adjourned until March 23 to allow a Telugu translator to help the witness give her testimony.
The defendant’s lawyer begged the judges for leniency, explaining that the 51-year-old accused had children who were dependent on her and were ‘lost’ without their mother.
nader@gdnmedia.bh
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