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.