She went to Kuwait dreaming of a better life. Weeks later, she was pleading to be rescued.

A 36-year-old Nepali woman, referred to as Bagmati, traveled to Kuwait with dreams of improving her family's financial situation through overseas employment. She was assured of a good job by individuals she knew through her village and relatives already working in Kuwait. However, her hopes quickly turned to fear within weeks of her arrival.

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It’s a good job. Don’t worry.

Bagmati described her experience as weeks of confinement, deprivation, and mistreatment. Overcome with emotion, she recounted secretly messaging her brother, pleading for rescue. "I had started feeling that I might never be able to get out," she said, detailing how a promise of decent employment devolved into a desperate bid for escape.

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I messaged my brother secretly, asking him to get me out of there by any means.

She was initially placed in a house where she worked for about 16 days, cleaning and ironing clothes. Although the work was demanding, she found it manageable. However, her situation worsened when she was transferred to another house with approximately seven or eight Indian women and other workers. The language barrier, with others speaking Tamil, further complicated her experience.

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I had started feeling that I might never be able to get out.

Bagmati's journey began after hearing about a well-paying job in Kuwait. Trusting a contact introduced by a relative, she traveled to Kathmandu for a medical examination. She was advised to leave her passport and citizenship certificate with the organizers, who assured her of a smooth process and expedited travel without the need for standard labor approval procedures. Despite initial reassurances and her sister-in-law's presence, the reality in Kuwait starkly contrasted with the promises made.

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They said getting labour approval and going through a manpower company would take too long and that they could send me easily.