Deceived women jobseekers stranded in Yogyakarta

Deceived women jobseekers stranded in Yogyakarta

Singgir Kartana, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

The dream of three women from Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, of
working in the neighboring country of Malaysia has ended in a
nightmare and they are now stranded in Yogyakarta, being taken
care of by, Tjut Nyak Dien, a local nonprofit foundation which
deals with problems and issues concerning women.

The story began when Sumiatun, 23, Rusmiati, 23, Nurmi, 17,
and 11 other women left their hometown in mid-September after a
man named Umar said that he could help them find work as
housemaids in Malaysia.

Claiming to be a manpower agency representative, Umar said
they would definitely get jobs and each earn as much as Rp
1,000,000 a month.

Umar's offer was made even more tempting because they were not
required to pay anything.

"He said that his firm would pay the transportation fares and
other expenses until we got a job in Malaysia. He then said that
we could reimburse the money in installments," Rusmiati said.

What the women should do, according to Umar, was prepare the
necessary documents.

Umar then took them to Jakarta for a test. He said that those
who failed the test would be sent home at the company's expense.

When the three women, and one other, failed a health
examination, Umar denied having promised to send them home and
told the women that they would work in Lampung.

Umar became angered by the women's insistence that they be
sent home.

"Since then he has treated us inhumanely. I was almost
strangled once because I refused to pay Rp 2 million Umar claimed
to be the expenses for my trip and meals. He knew from the start
that none of us had any money," said Nurmi.

What Sumiatun experienced was no less frightening.

One day, Umar took her to a hotel where he tried to rape her.
"Fortunately, I had the chance to scream for help, which made
hotel security realize what was happening," the mother of one
said.

On Oct. 9, the four women left Jakarta, with Umar saying that
they were being sent home. Again, the man did not keep his word.
Instead of being taken to Sumbawa, they were taken to Yogyakarta
and placed in a house located in Maguwoharjo, Sleman.

To avoid the possibility of further inhumane treatment,
Sumiatun, Rusmiyati and Nurmi decided to escape. Unfortunately,
the other women became seriously ill and could not join them.

"She was suffering from typhoid. We were very sorry that we
did not have the chance to know her name, but she is also from
Lombok," Rusmiati said.

Over the next few hours, the three women wandered the city of
Yogyakarta, a place they had never known. They were just trying
to get as far away as possible from the place they had been
locked up.

Fortunately, a man named Marsudi of Maguwoharjo helped them
and took them to the Depok Police sector for help. The police
later called the Tjoet Nyak Dien Foundation and requested that
they take care of the trio.

"We're currently trying to help them restore their
psychological condition. We're cooperating with the police to
unravel the case," Lita Anggraini of the Tjoet Njak Dien
Foundation said.

The three, still depressed, just start crying whenever they
are asked to remember the place where they left the other girl.
They cannot remember the streets or roads they had passed during
their escape as the only thing on their minds was trying to get
away from Umar, who had threatened to kill them.

The foundation has not yet managed to contact their relatives
in Lombok.