Two Punjabi women stranded in Oman return safely after MP Seechewal's interventionਓਮਾਨ ਵਿੱਚ ਫਸੀਆਂ ਦੋ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਔਰਤਾਂ ਐਮਪੀ ਸੀਚੇਵਾਲ ਦੇ ਦਖ਼ਲ ਤੋਂ ਬਾਅਦ ਸੁਰੱਖਿਅਤ ਵਾਪਸ

Two Punjabi women who travelled to Muscat, Oman earlier this year after being promised well-paid jobs have returned safely to India, following intervention by Rajya Sabha MP Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal.

Promised jobs abroad, found exploitation

The women — from Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts — say they faced harassment, threats and alleged physical abuse after reaching Oman, and that their passports were seized. The woman from Jalandhar travelled to Oman in March this year after a woman named Mariam allegedly promised her a job at a beauty parlour with a monthly salary of Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000. After she arrived, Mariam allegedly took her passport on the pretext of extending her visa and then refused to return it. She further alleged she was told she would not be allowed back to India unless Rs 2 lakh was paid.

Both women said they were taken to Oman through Mumbai airport.

Families sought Seechewal's help

The families approached Seechewal with written complaints seeking the safe return of their daughters, and also lodged complaints with the police. The Rajya Sabha MP — a Padma Shri recipient widely known for his environmental and river-cleaning campaigns in Punjab — took up the matter, and the two women have now returned home.

A wider trafficking pattern

The women told the media after their return that around 130 other women were still stranded in Muscat and waiting to return to India — a claim that shows how deep the problem runs. In a related account reported by PTC News, another rescued victim described being treated "like property rather than a human being" after her passport and documents were confiscated, alleging that girls are effectively "sold" under the pretext of domestic work. She also revealed that a close relative already stuck in Oman had played a role in sending her there as a "replacement" in exchange for her own release.

Seechewal has said such cases are not isolated, and that more than 110 Indian girls have already been rescued from Arab countries through coordinated efforts. The pattern is a familiar one: unscrupulous agents promise high-paying jobs to women from vulnerable families, confiscate their passports on arrival, and then use threats — and in some cases false theft charges — to trap them in legal and financial tangles they can neither understand nor afford to escape.

How were the two women lured to Oman?

They were promised well-paid jobs — in one case a beauty-parlour job paying Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 a month. After reaching Muscat earlier this year, their passports were seized and they faced harassment, threats and demands for money.

How did they get back?

Their families filed written complaints with Rajya Sabha MP Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal and also lodged police complaints. Seechewal intervened, and both women have now returned safely to India.

Are other women still trapped in Oman?

The two women said around 130 more women were still stranded in Muscat and waiting to return. Seechewal has separately said that more than 110 Indian girls have already been rescued from Arab countries through coordinated efforts.

Who is Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal?

He is a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab and a Padma Shri awardee, widely known for his environmental work and river-cleaning campaigns. He has intervened in several such rescue cases involving Punjabi women trapped in Gulf countries.