Human traffickers from Kerala are recruiting vulnerable women to ISIS. A Keralite lady who escaped the mafia clutches complained to the Kerala police, but they conspired and hushed up the incident. There are allegations of trafficking for sex slavery among ISIS terrorists in Syria and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing the incident.

The victim who confessed is from Fort Kochi in Ernakulam and the traffickers threatened to sell her to the dreaded terrorist organization, ISIS. Two victims who managed to escape with her are not ready to register a complaint. It is alleged that they do not trust the local authorities for reasons unknown.

Damning details about collusion between ISIS recruiters, trafficking mafia and corrupt officials are now trickling out. A victim registered a case earlier this year and added that around 100 are still trapped. Kerala police failed to add sections related to human trafficking in the FIR. This act delayed a probe by competent central government agencies.

A Kannur-based Islamist named M K Gassali alias Majeed is sad to be the kingpin of this racket. He sells Bhartiya women to Arabs in gulf countries and Syria. Two local agents, AR Ajumon (35) and Shameer, scouted for vulnerable Keralite women and ‘recruited’ them with false promises of nursing and babysitting jobs in the UAE. Ajumon surrendered before the court last week while the rest are on the run. Police confirmed that Majeed has several touts on his payroll and are spread across several states. 

‘Recruitments’ took place towards the last few months of last year. The agents posted notices inviting women to work as nurses in the UAE, promising a salary of Rs.60,000/ month. Many fell into their trap, and preliminary investigations confirmed that the accused illegally recruited over 100 women.

Bharat has strict laws to prevent such agents from recruiting women as housemaids. They need approvals from the Protector of Immigrants. To bypass this, the human traffickers fly the victims to different locations in the UAE like Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman on ‘visit visas.’ Once there, Arabs from other gulf countries (including conflict-torn ones) arrive and ‘purchase’ these women.

The traffickers confiscate the passports and they are smuggled across the border without any paperwork by bribing corrupt border patrol authorities. All this makes the women extremely vulnerable to exploitation by their employees since they cannot seek official help.

In the Fort Kochi victim’s case, the same method was applied by the mafia. She ended up in Kuwait, where she was employed as a maid. Once there, Majeed visited the Arab, took 1400 Kuwaiti Dinars (Rs.3.50 Lakhs), and left, she said. The Fort Kochi trafficking victim saw the recruitment notice and approached the office at Chalikavattom in Ernakulam. A lady staff promised her a babysitter job and sent her to Ravipuram in downtown Ernakulam.

Ajumon and his cronies showed her a few photos of ‘well settled’ babysitters and tricked her. They then enticed her with free visas and tickets and asked her to come back with her RT-PCR Covid-19 tests. Two weeks later, they told her that her visa was ready, which she collected along with her tickets from Nedumbassery airport in Ernakulam.

She flew to Dubai and the next day caught the Kuwait flight. Majeed received her and took her to his office, where a few Keralite women (victims) looked at her sympathetically. A Kuwaiti lady arrived, took the victim to her house, and paid him his cut, following which Majeed left.

The Kuwaiti family consisted of eight members, including a two-year-old and a one-year-old. She had to babysit, do the laundry, wash the dishes, and do housekeeping from 7 am to midnight. She was given two Kaboos (local roti) each day and was denied her salary. The victim was trapped.

She informed her husband back home about her plight. When contacted, Ajumon remained vague and Majeed became aggressive. The victim asked for a job change, which infuriated her employer, who physically assaulted her. They also took away her phone.

Ajumon then demanded Rs.3.5 lakhs for her ‘release.’ When her husband contacted Majeed, the same demand was repeated and threatened that the next stop would be Syria (ISIS). Unable to bear the torture, the victim told her captors that she was considering suicide.

Her husband, meanwhile, contacted a Malayali Association in Kuwait and requested their help. The captors asked Majeed to come and she was taken back to his office. The Malayali organization contacted her and she sent them her location.

Most such associations are Hindu ones. Islamists reserve their true colors for soft states like Bharat and do not raise their voice against atrocities heaped by Arab nationals. Muslims from Kerala proactively support the Arab masters, as seen during the Nupur Sharma incident but their extreme servility was punished with deportations.

Association members reached Majeed’s place and protested. Majeed physically assaulted the victim and a few other Keralite ladies who tried to prevent the beating. Those ladies, too, had been trapped and probably were stuck in Kuwait since they did not have anyone back home to assist.

“Have you heard of ISIS? That is where you all are going to go,” Majeed shouted and walked out. Unfortunately, the fate of those ladies who helped the victim remains unknown; many of them are allegedly not even there in Kuwait. Kerala has a history of recruitment to ISIS (including women terrorists) and sleeper cells deeply embedded in the society. Several have blown themselves up in Afghanistan and Libya. In fact, Kerala is the only state has such dubious distinctions.

This is also why the Kerala police’s delay in registering human trafficking assumes grave implications. The incident gives credence to the allegations that the radical Islamist Pacha Velicham (green light) group is still active within the police force. Following pressure from the Malayali organization, three ladies, including this victim, boarded separate flights back to Kerala. They came back empty-handed and did not even have money to buy a bottle of drinking water.