A recruitment agent from Goa was arrested by the Goa Police for allegedly trafficking 12 women from Goa to Iraq on the pretext of giving them jobs in Dubai. The agent Jabbar Mulla, resident of Goa had promised the women for job of a housemaid in Dubai but instead sent them to Baghdad, in Iraq, said the report.
According to the Superintendent of police of Crime Branch Shobhit Saxena, they have detained the agent Mulla based on the FIR (first information report) registered against him under Section 10 of the Emigration Act and Section 370 (trafficking) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The crime branch took the action after receiving the complaint from the protector of emigrants, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) stating that the women have been trafficked to Baghdad, Iraq, and were sent to that country without registration.
Police said that the Agent recruited the women last year as housemaids, and was supposed to work in Dubai.
Police said that the women were illegally transported through a suspicious route to Iraq and they were forced to do physical work for extra hours.
One of the women escaped from the workplace and approached the Indian Embassy in Baghdad for assistance, police said.
One of the husbands of the trafficked women, in his complaint before the crime branch, said that his wife was exploited in Iraq.
Police said as per the rules, any agent who conducts recruitment for jobs aboard should be registered with the protector of emigrants and obtain certification from MEA.
In this case, police said that the agent had not obtained the certificate from MEA.
Police said that any person approaching recruitment agents for seeking employment abroad should check whether he/she is registered with MEA, and then only proceed with further formalities.
