JEDDAH, Jul 21 (Arab News): An Indian maid in the Kingdom has claimed she has been locked up in a house for the last nine months after her sponsor “sold her” to a labor placement agency.

Laila Beevi says the agency hired her out to a woman who has since kept her under lock and key, without proper food or access to medical facilities.

“I have no food, my son comes from outside and throws bread over the wall for me to eat,” Beevi told Arab News via telephone.

The Federation of Kerala Association Saudi Arabia (Fokasa) has been trying to help Beevi.

Beevi’s son, who is a laborer, submitted petitions to the Riyadh Governorate and National Society of Human Rights with the help of Fokasa.

According to the petition, Beevi is locked up in a house in the Al-Nakheel residential area under the jurisdiction of Al-Maazar police station. The Indian Embassy had sent a fax to the police station asking them to help free Beevi from captivity, but to no avail.

Last month Fokasa official Rafi Pangodu asked the manager of the labor placement agency to help release Beevi. The agency wants SR12,000 to secure her release, adding that was the amount the previous sponsor received from the current employer.

However, records show that Beevi is still registered under her old sponsor.

Meanwhile, Kerala Pravasi Sangham state Vice President Vijayakumar telephoned Fokasa and informed the organization that a state-level action committee had been set up to pursue Beevi’s matter and lobby the Indian state and central governments in a bid to secure her release.

He added that he knew of Beevi’s story from newspaper reports.

“I heard now that the owner of the house is leaving for London for three months, so something must be done fast in order to secure Laila Beevi’s release,” Fokasa president R. Murleedharan told Arab News.