Police in Sangrur have booked three persons for allegedly cheating and trafficking a young woman from a village in Punjab to Malaysia on the pretext of a job at a saloon, but then allegedly forcing her to work for a couple there who would not give her proper meals and keep her locked in a room.

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday announced that the woman stranded in Malaysia would be brought back home soon. He claimed to have informed the Centre, which had raised the issue with Malaysia. “Efforts made by our government have borne fruit, as the girl has established contact with the Indian embassy. After the formalities and remaining paperwork, the victim will be united with her family,” he said.
On a complaint by her father, Gurdas Singh, a case has been registered at Lehra police station against Ram Singh of Sunam, and Hardeep Kaur and her husband, Sumit, who are living in Malaysia. The accused have been booked under sections 420, 120- B of IPC and Section 13 of Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act.

The action came after a video of the 23-year-old woman, who allegedly has been trapped in Malaysia, went viral on social media. In the video, the woman claimed she was sent to Malaysia for a job at a saloon, but she was forced to work at the house of a couple in Malaysia as a domestic help, who did not even give her proper meals.
Seeking help from the government, she claimed that she was also kept locked in a room.
Gurdas, who is from Adakwas village of Sangrur district, said he last spoke to his daughter on August 2. “We are unaware about her health and whereabouts. She used to work at a beauty parlour in Sangrur and had been employed for five-six years before going abroad,” he told TOI.
“Ram is our relative. Once, when he was visiting our house, he suggested we send our daughter to work at a saloon in Malaysia, where she would be paid Rs 40,000 per month as salary. But, on reaching there, my daughter was forced to work as a domestic help and was not even given proper meals,” he said.
“She informed us about this. We then requested Ram to get back our daughter, but he demanded Rs 4 lakh. We then complained to the police, but had to run from pillar to post after which we met finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema and police finally registered a case,” he added.