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A shattered Gulf dream

From A Correspondent

NEDUMBASSERY, AUG. 6. For the 32-year-old Rani, the realisation that she could not pursue her Gulf dreams came as a rude shock. Rani, who hails from Coimbatore, was to take up the job of a housemaid in Doha, when she was denied passage by the emigration officials at the Cochin International Airport.

Officials say the denial was for want of an authorised sponsor agreement duly attested by the Indian Embassy. This, according to officials, is a necessity for any women above the age of 30 who wish to travel abroad for a housemaid's job.

Ms. Rani says a Coimbatore-based agent, to whom she had paid Rs.40,000, sent her to Kochi assuring all the required documents for her travel were in place. After emigration officials blocked her transit, she found stranded at the airport as the relatives who came to see her off had already left. As the relatives were on their way back it was not possible to contact them at home either.

With no money in hand she could not find a way to return home and was seen sobbing. However, she got back Rs.500, which she had paid as airport user's fee. Touched by her predicament the women cleaning staff at the airport arranged for an autorickshaw to take her to Angamaly, from where she left for Coimbatore by bus.

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