VISAKHAPATNAM: A woman from the city has escaped from the clutches of pimps allegedly involved in sending poor Andhra women to the Middle East promising them jobs as maid servants.

Chipurapalle Ramanamma (35), a resident of Varahagiri Colony in Akkayyapalem, said that after promising a job, she was taken to Mumbai via Hyderabad.

"They forced me to wear a `burqa' and paraded me before some Arabs along with other women from Andhra Pradesh,'' she told a press conference organised by the Progressive Organisation for Women (POW) on Sunday.

The woman alleged that she was introduced to one Satyavathi, wife of Nookaraju, an employee of Dock Labour Board. Later, Satyavathi sent her to her cousin (also named Satyavathi) based in Mumbai for a placement in Qatar on payment of Rs.40,000.

After allegedly abusing her and showing her to prospective clients, she was taken to an unknown place. There she was paraded before some people from the Gulf, she alleged. Suspecting foul play, she attempted to run away from the racketeers. But she was caught at the railway station and taken back to a hideout.

She said that somehow she could inform her husband regarding her plight. Later, a family acquaintance posed herself as a police constable and threatened Satyavathi of Mumbai of a raid. "Believing that she was a real cop, Ramanamma was sent by train to Vizag on August 4,'' POW district convener K. Padma said.

Later, they lodged a complaint with the V Town Police following which Satyavathi of Vizag and her husband were arrested.

On receipt of information that Satyavathi of Mumbai had come to Vizag, the POW sent two girls to her with a request for job. "Without any hesitation, she promised lucrative jobs to them in Gulf,'' Ms. Padma said, and demanded a detailed probe into the sex racket being run by Satyavathi of Mumbai and her accomplices.

Ms. Padma said though Satyavathi of Mumbai was also arrested by the police on Saturday, a case under Section 420 of IPC (cheating) was booked against her. Later, she presented a representation to DCP Ravindra seeking a detailed probe into the alleged trafficking in women.

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