Rescued worker heads home after months on the run

An illegal worker in Bahrain will be sent home to India next week. File photo, for illustrative purposes only. Getty Images.

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An illegal Indian worker found living in a burned-out house, near-starving, will fly home from Bahrain next week.

According to a report in the Gulf Daily News, labourer Rajay Kumar, 32, was found hiding in the burned-out house in Adliya where he had been for nine months. He’d run away from the construction company he worked for and the accommodation they provided after friends convinced him he could find better wages elsewhere.

After failing to find a job or place to live – and worried about the consequences he may face if he returned to the company, Kumar had been squatting in the burned-out house ever since, the paper reported.

Kumar’s story unravelled on Sunday after he approached Al Mahmood Company site manager N K Mohammed Ali, who is also Malappuram Jilla Pravasi Association (MJPA) vice-president, for a job. Ali took

Kumar to the embassy where officials fast-tracked an application that allowed him to leave the country without his passport, which is still with his sponsor.

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Until then, Kumar is being cared for at a charity shelter where he has been given food, clothing and a bed. Social workers have also arranged a phone card for him so that he can contact his wife. They’ve not spoken for nine months.

MJPA general-secretary Chemban Jalal told the paper that they had also received distress calls from other illegal or abused workers since news of Kumar’s plight had been released.

"There are many who ran away from their companies seeking better wages to support their families. Some didn't get salaries and allowances on time and some haven't met their sponsors since they came to Bahrain. There are different cases and stories, which need to be solved and illegal workers to be sent home," he told the paper.

"The case of Mr Kumar is genuine and we feel sorry for his condition,” he said, adding that workers should report companies to the relevant authorities instead of running away and compromising themselves.

"That's my message to all the workers and labour community and it's for their own safety," he told the paper.

"They can report rogue bosses and companies to the embassy. They don't have to be afraid of anyone."