Indian envoy meets distressed women workers in Oman, promises swift help

Dubai,UPDATED: Jul 20, 2026 13:40 IST

India's Ambassador to Oman, Prashant Pise, met distressed Indian women working as domestic workers in the Gulf country and assured them that their complaints would be addressed quickly, the Indian Embassy in Muscat said on Monday.

The outreach comes amid repeated reports of abuse, exploitation and non-payment of wages involving Indian women domestic workers in Oman and other Gulf countries. The embassy said Pise met the women at a shelter run by the mission, where free boarding and lodging are provided to workers in distress.

In a post on X, the embassy said the ambassador met women domestic workers in distress and "those who have left their employers' households or have been abandoned by their employers". It said their grievances and complaints were heard during the interaction.

"Their grievances and complaints were heard, while assuring them prompt action by the Embassy's Community Affairs team to reach an early resolution," the mission said.

The meeting comes against the backdrop of the case of Hyderabad resident Shabnam Begum, who alleged that she was taken to Muscat with the promise of a better-paying domestic job but was instead made to work 12 to 15 hours a day across multiple households without wages. She also alleged that she was assaulted, denied adequate food and had her mobile phone confiscated before she escaped and took shelter at the Indian Embassy. The mission said on Saturday that it had taken cognisance of the matter and was pursuing it at the appropriate levels.

India has labour and manpower cooperation agreements with all six Gulf countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE — to provide a framework for addressing issues related to the welfare and protection of Indian workers through regular bilateral consultations. However, migrant domestic workers, mostly women, continue to face major human rights challenges as the existing agreements do not specifically mention domestic workers, according to a report by the Indian Council of World Affairs.

The embassy's latest outreach underlined both the support being extended to distressed Indian domestic workers in Oman and the continuing concerns over their safety, working conditions and unpaid wages.

With PTI Inputs

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