Nursing job promise turns nightmare, Ranchi woman held captive in Dubai

A Ranchi woman alleges she was lured to Dubai for a nursing job and then held captive. Her family has sought her return as police probe a suspected recruitment fraud and passport seizure.

In Short

• Monica travelled on May 5 after paying Rs 15,000 plus air ticket costs
• Passport confiscated, forced to sign loan documents in Arabic
• Family appeals for authorities to bring Monica back to India

A woman from Ranchi was allegedly held captive in Dubai, abused and forced to do household work after she travelled there for a nursing job promised by a private recruiting agency, police said on Friday.

Based on a complaint filed by her father on Tuesday, an FIR has been registered at the airport police station against Priyanka, an agent of private company AMD Trend Solutions, her husband Ritesh, and Md Meraj Ansari.

According to the complaint, Monica Kachhap travelled to Dubai on May 5 after seeing a job advertisement on social media and being promised work as a nurse.

Her father alleged that Monica, who was working as a nurse at a private hospital in Ranchi and holds a B.Sc. in nursing, transferred Rs 15,000 electronically to Priyanka on April 22. Priyanka later asked for money for an air ticket, which was also paid, he alleged.

Police said Monica travelled from Delhi to Sharjah on May 5 and was picked up at the airport by a driver sent by the company, who allegedly took away her passport.

Airport police station officer-in-charge Pankaj Sharma, citing the complaint, said Monica was taken the next day to an office on the 24th floor of a building in Ajman, where Ritesh and Meraj Ansari allegedly pressured her to sign documents written in Arabic.

She was later allegedly told that, according to the documents she had signed, she had taken a loan of 12,600 dirhams and would be allowed to return to India only after repaying the amount.

Her mother told PTI news agency that Monica's visa had expired and that her passport had been confiscated by the company agents who had promised her employment, food and accommodation.

The family has urged the authorities to bring Monica back home.

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