Promised UAE hospital job, Alappuzha woman trapped in Ajman sex racket, ex-colleague booked

When 25-year-old Nikhila (name changed) left for Ajman five months ago, she carried with her a bundle of dreams — to build a home, support her seven-year-old daughter, and take care of her parents. But those dreams came crashing down when her family in Kerala recently received a Facebook video showing a disoriented woman wandering the streets of the UAE. To their horror, they recognised the woman as Nikhila.

According to her family, Nikhila was allegedly lured to Ajman with the promise of a hospital cleaning job but ended up trapped in the hands of a sex racket at an Ayurvedic massage spa. After months of abuse and captivity, she managed to escape but was found mentally unstable, alone in a foreign land.

Her family alleges that a former co-worker, Thara Suran from Karthikappally, was behind the deception. Nikhila is now in a women’s shelter in Ajman, and the Indian embassy, following the intervention of Union Minister Suresh Gopi, has begun arrangements to bring her back to Kerala.

“She never told us anything. The last time she called, she was crying and kept saying, ‘Akka... Akka (sister, sister).’ Then she suddenly cut the call. That was the last time I heard her voice or saw her face,” says her elder sister Akhila (name changed).

Nikhila, a native of Ambalappuzha in Alappuzha, had been living with her young daughter since her divorce two years ago. Her nine-year-old son stays with her ex-husband. “She lived in a small shed next to my house, in the same compound as our parents,” says Akhila, a widow. “She had serious financial troubles and debts, which pushed her to look for jobs abroad.”

Her first trip to Ajman was in October 2024, arranged by Thara, who helped her secure a job at a supermarket. But when the store shut down, she returned home within three months. In February 2025, again with Thara’s help, Nikhila went back to Ajman and found work as a hospital cleaner. Two months later, she came home abruptly, saying she suspected something suspicious about Thara but refused to elaborate.

In May 2025, she received another job offer—again as a hospital cleaner in Ajman. Believing this came from someone else, she accepted it. “Only after arriving did she realise that Thara was involved once more, and the job was not at a hospital but at a massage spa,” says Akhila.

Before moving abroad, Nikhila and Thara had worked together at a utensils shop in Haripad and had known each other for some time. “She even visited Thara’s home once while working for a microfinance company. So we didn’t suspect any foul play initially,” Akhila recalls.

When Nikhila left for Ajman, Akhila took care of her daughter. “She used to video call her child every day. She seemed happy. But one day, she called me from a dark place, crying and saying nothing except ‘sister, sister’. The call disconnected suddenly, and after that, her number was unreachable,” says Akhila.

The family tried calling her repeatedly. “Days passed without hearing from her. Her daughter kept asking, ‘Amma enne marannu poyo?’ (Has Amma forgotten me?),” Akhila says. Their worry grew when Akhila contacted Thara’s husband, who revealed that Nikhila had sent him messages exposing the truth before disappearing. Around the same time, they came across the Facebook video showing her wandering aimlessly in Ajman, prompting them to seek help from the authorities.

“We learned that she had escaped from the massage spa where she was held. It is believed that she was subjected to sexual harassment and forced to use drugs, which may have affected her mental health,” says Ambalappuzha panchayat member Manojkumar K, who reached out to Suresh Gopi’s office.

“Once the issue came to the minister’s attention, he immediately informed the Indian embassy. The next day, officials rescued her from Alai, a residential area in Ajman, and moved her to a women’s shelter run by the Indian embassy,” an official from the minister’s office confirmed. “She is receiving treatment but still speaks incoherently. Only after she recovers will we know what truly happened.”

The embassy has initiated the documentation process to bring her back. “They told us she’s not stable enough to travel alone. We can’t afford to go there, so the embassy plans to appoint an official or social worker to accompany her,” says Akhila. “We hope she returns soon.”

Meanwhile, based on a complaint filed by Nikhila’s mother, Ambalappuzha police have registered a case against Thara. The complaint states that Thara deceitfully took Nikhila to Ajman on May 6, 2025, promising her a hospital cleaning job but instead forced her into immoral work.

Thara has been charged under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhitha (BNS), which deals with cheating and dishonestly inducing a person to act against their interest. Police have searched Thara’s house at Thrikkunnappuzha and found that she has since moved to Dubai. “She appears estranged from her husband and family and has no previous criminal record,” said a police officer. “The full details can be known only after Nikhila is able to communicate. Efforts are on to locate Thara,” he added.