Jailed Uzbeki woman set to return home

Anirudh Gupta

Ferozepur, August 2

Pushed into immoral trafficking in India and subsequently mentally and physically abused for almost two years, an Uzbeki woman here will be able to reunite with her children soon.

She said that she had lost her parents early and grew up as an orphan. Later, she lost her husband. She has three children back home.

In the middle of financial hardship, she was brought to Delhi and pushed into immoral trafficking.

Her passport and other documents were taken away. Later, she was denied the promised money and left to fend for herself. Her ordeal did not end here as wherever she went for help, they further exploited her. As per an email sent by her brother, they even uploaded a video urging the President of Uzbekistan for help and knocked every possible door back home to bring her back, but in vain. Finally, she came in contact with a Pakistani national who asked her to reach Kasur. He promised to send her back home.

She took a cab from Delhi and reached Ferozepur and started moving towards the border. There she was caught by the BSF near Gatti Rajjoke on June 16 and handed over to the police.

After going through the interrogation at the hands of multiple agencies, she was booked under Section 3 of Indian Passports Act and Section 14 of the Foreigner Act and sent to Central Jail.

Having lost all hope, she came in contact with the District Legal Services Authority which provided her legal aid and contacted Embassy of Uzbekistan officials. Ekta Uppal, Secretary, DLSA, said that they met the Uzbeki woman in Central Jail and got to know about her case. Later, the matter was taken up with Virinder Aggarwal, Chairman, DLSA, who asked us to take up the matter with the embassy.

After a series of emails, the embassy finally issued her fresh passport and she is all set to go back home.

Beknazar Askarov, Consul of the Embassy of Uzbekistan, said that they had looked into her case and realised that her children needed her care. Thanking the DLSA for their support, the Uzbeki national said that had the DLSA not taken up her matter, she would have never been able to return home.

“Her air tickets have been arranged. Soon, she will fly back home,” said Uppal.