Amritsar: Sukhwant Kaur now thanks a kind-hearted nurse from Kerala and social media for her freedom from torture and ignominy.

The 55-year-old woman from Punjab was sold as a housemaid for 350,000 rupees to a Saudi Arabian family by an illegal travel agent in this January.

During her 5-month in the Muslim nation, the Sikh woman had to endure blows, slander and hunger. When she fell severely ill her masters admitted her to a hospital.

On her return from Saudi Arabia via Mumbai on May 31, Kaur told The Times of India, “There was a nurse from Kerala who realized the trouble I was in and called my family.”

The resident of Ajtani village in Jalandhar district said she was forcibly made to work morning until midnight and even forced to eat meat despite being a vegetarian.

She said she had gone to Saudi Arabia in January to augment her husband’s income and help repay their loans.

Her husband Kulwant Singh said, “Initially, she used to call me often, but then her calls stopped all of a sudden, which had us worried. I came to know about their condition on May 7 when I got a call from the UAE hospital. One of my friends suggested that I send a message to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Twitter. Thankfully, she responded quickly and my wife is back home 24 days later.”

The woman was flown to Mumbai with the help of Indian Embassy officials in Saudi Arabia. The government arranged for her travel to Amritsar since she had no money.

Her eyes brimming over, her daughter Ranjeet Kaur said that she could never ever imagine that her mother was sold like a commodity and expressed gratitude to the government for rescuing her mother.

Kaur said the travel agent, Pooja, had taken 40,000 rupees from her and sold her to the Saudi family for a higher sum. The travel agent has been held by Mumbai police.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has thanked Swaraj for ensuring Kaur’s return. He also promised a time-bound action plan by his government to prevent unscrupulous travel agents from duping innocent people.

The chief minister urged the external affairs minister to use all the political and diplomatic channels to put an end to the illegal practice of travel agents, who fraudulently send innocent people abroad, where they are victimized in various ways.