She left on an airplane, returned on a stretcher

The woman is now recovering in the ICU of Andheri’s Seven Hills Hospital, as her loved ones, who call her repatriation illegal and heartless are left pleading for answers and justice. According to the woman’s mother, her daughter had gone through a known agent based in Dubai, who assured her of a respectable job. However, she was allegedly exploited and treated like domestic help, working without pay in multiple residences, including the homes of the agent’s wives.

Alleged mistreatment

The mother alleged that her daughter was mentally and physically harassed, shifted between houses under false promises of employment, and lived in illegal and exploitative conditions. When she objected or raised concerns, the agent allegedly pacified her and her mother with false reassurances. Eventually, the woman was offered a job at a McDonald’s in Abu Dhabi. The mother claims her daughter faced workplace harassment, isolation, and discrimination, especially for maintaining distance from the male staff. Her attempts to complain were reportedly ignored, and the alleged abuse intensified.

The 24-year-old was working at McDonald’s in Abu Dhabi before she was admitted to a hospital on October 27, 2024 after being found unconscious

Troubled and lonely, she confided in a friend from Nepal who worked at a nearby restaurant, and started living in a flat along with other women in the building where her friend was staying. The mother suspects the Nepali national and others may have been complicit in the alleged crimes. “Instead of helping her, he gained her trust and later harassed her mentally and physically,” she stated.

First hospital admission

In October last year, the woman was found unconscious and admitted to an Abu Dhabi-based hospital. The mother was informed that her daughter had allegedly attempted suicide by consuming 60 sleeping pills. But when her family received videos and photos from the hospital, they were horrified to see injuries all over her body; she was unable to speak or use her hands.

The mother told mid-day, “Her phone had not been reachable since the night of October 26, 2024. Worried, I inquired with her colleagues. They told me she had been absent for three days and when she came back, her supervisor suspended her for two more days. I then took the help of a social media friend living in Dubai, who went looking for my daughter and learnt that she had been admitted. Since I did not have a passport and could not travel to the UAE, I sent my mother there. She stayed in the hospital with my daughter for about a month. As the latter was not in a condition to speak, it was not known what had happened to her.”

The 24-year-old at the ICU of SevenHills Hospital in Andheri. PICS/BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

She added, “I came to know from my mother, friend, and hospital staff that my daughter was admitted on October 27 by the Nepali national and a few McDonald’s employees. The Nepali national told the hospital that she had tried to end her life by consuming 60 pills, which is a blatant lie. My daughter cannot commit suicide. Something wrong must have happened to her. There were injury marks on her body, face, and other parts of her body.”

The mother stated, “I wanted to go to the UAE and get to the bottom of the matter, so I applied for a passport, but the process got delayed due to document-related issues. I was shocked to learn that my daughter was secretly and forcibly deported to India without a passport and her belongings on June 19.  She was brought to the international airport and transferred via Star Care ambulance to Shatabdi Hospital [Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Municipal General].”

The ambulance staff reportedly informed the family only after dropping her off at the hospital, leaving her unattended for six hours, until hospital authorities insisted on a guardian’s presence. “Only when we got a call from the ambulance driver did we rush to the hospital. She was lying unconscious in the ambulance like an abandoned body. No attending doctor was present,” the mother said.

Allegations of abuse

The family has alleged conspiracy, trafficking, sexual abuse, and illegal deportation, and called for compensation and immediate arrest of the accused. The mother alleges that her daughter may have been assaulted by multiple individuals during her stay in Abu Dhabi. “She cannot speak, but her eyes tell a horrifying story. We believe she was sexually abused by the Nepali national and others,” she said.

The 24-year-old was working in a McDonald’s outlet in Abu Dhabi

The mother has demanded a joint investigation by Indian and UAE authorities and listed several individuals allegedly involved in the abuse and trafficking of her daughter. She further claimed that hospital staff in Abu Dhabi and local coordinators misled her and coordinated the silent deportation of her daughter. “How was my daughter sent from a foreign country without a passport? Who allowed this? Where is her phone, wages, or any record? Why was there no medical staff in the ambulance? Who will take responsibility if she dies?” she asked.

Plea for help

The mother also claims that the family is not receiving support from the SevenHills administration, which is pressuring her to discharge her daughter despite her unfit condition. “How will we treat her when she is in no condition to walk, move, talk or eat? We are not financially capable either. I request that the government help us in our time of need.  I have written to Indian authorities, the Ministry of External Affairs, the Mumbai Police, the Women’s Commission, and the UAE Consulate, seeking justice. “We are a poor family.

I sent my daughter abroad hoping she’d earn and build a better life. Instead, I got her back nearly dead. I beg the governments of India and the United Arab Emirates — please investigate this thoroughly and punish all those responsible,” the mother mentioned in a written petition.

Mother’s friend speaks

The mother’s social media friend told mid-day, “Since I live in Dubai, I immediately contacted the Dubai police after learning about the situation. With the help of the woman’s Emirates ID, a mandatory identification card for all UAE citizens and residents, the authorities discovered that she had been to a hospital in Abu Dhabi. As the case fell under the jurisdiction of the Abu Dhabi CID, I sought and received their permission to visit the hospital. Upon my visit, I was shocked to learn that the woman had suffered a stroke. She had apparently consumed a large number of pills and was found in a critical condition. She had been given CPR and was revived, but her condition was very serious. At that point, she was unable to speak.”

He added, “The police informed me that she had been living with someone. I also contacted staff and officials at her workplace. They confirmed that she had been absent from work for three days without notifying anyone. When she eventually returned, she was suspended for two days and sent back home. They clarified that nothing had happened to her while on duty.”

The mother’s friend told mid-day that he had spoken to a relative  of the Versova woman, who had visited the building where the 24-year-old was residing. “The relative said he met the Nepali national and the latter told him that the woman and he were living together and had fought a few days prior to the day when she fell unconscious. The Nepali national said he had physically assaulted her and later took her to the hospital himself for treatment. On the day when the woman lost consciousness, they had had another argument, after which the 24-year-old allegedly consumed a large quantity of pills. The Nepali national rushed her to the hospital and admitted her.”

Since it was a case of alleged attempted suicide, the police got involved and confiscated the Nepali national’s passport, according to the mother’s friend. “The woman was in no condition to speak to me. After I informed her mother and close relatives about the situation over the phone, her grandmother came to Abu Dhabi and stayed with her during her treatment. After that, I am unaware of what exactly transpired. What I can confirm is that the victim was receiving treatment at one of the best hospitals in Abu Dhabi, and the Abu Dhabi police were very supportive throughout,” he added.

Ambulance service provider

Rizwan Shaikh, who operates Star Care Ambulance Services, which transported the woman to Shatabdi Hospital, stated that he had received a call from a Dubai-based patient transportation provider, IMTS Care Service, a day prior, requesting him to transport a patient from the airport to Shatabdi Hospital. Rizwan recalled that this same company had contacted him about one and a half months earlier regarding the same patient and had provided him with contact numbers of her family.

“When I spoke to the family members at that time, they clearly refused and said that they would not allow the patient to be transported without their explicit permission,” Rizwan said. So, when IMTS contacted him again about the same patient, he immediately recognised the case and asked whether they had obtained permission from the family. “They assured me that the family had given permission, that they had coordinated with the embassy, and that the family would be present at the hospital,” Rizwan added.

On June 19, as his own ambulance was already reserved, Rizwan arranged for an acquaintance’s ambulance to handle the assignment. The patient was picked up from the international airport, where she had land in an air ambulance and brought to Shatabdi Hospital. According to Rizwan, IMTS had promised to send a doctor along with the ambulance, but this wasn’t the case.

When the ambulance arrived at the hospital, the staff initially refused to admit the patient, as no family member was present. The ambulance driver then contacted the patient’s relatives, who were unaware of her arrival.  “The ambulance was left standing in the hospital premises for four to five hours with the patient inside. The vehicle’s inverter ran out of power, and the patient’s condition was deteriorating rapidly due to extreme dehydration,” Rizwan said.

When the driver informed Rizwan about the absence of the doctor in the ambulance and the hospital’s refusal to admit the patient without a relative present, Rizwan advised him to file a police complaint. After about five to six hours of waiting, the patient was finally admitted once the relatives arrived at the hospital. The reporter mailed IMTS Care Service and the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, but received no reply by press time.

Nepali national’s version

When contacted, the Nepali national did give straight answers. He said that if he had done something wrong, “would the government have let me go?” When the reporter said that the woman’s family had complained against him to the police, he said, “I will also complain…”

The discharge report

The Abu Dhabi hospital’s discharge report states that the woman was “Brought into the emergency department after asystolic cardiac arrest, when her friend found her unresponsive after about five minutes of absence. Of note, the patient was recently reported to have sustained a left forehead injury after a fall. When EMS was summoned, the patient was in asystolic arrest and CPR was initiated... The patient was brought to the emergency department and intubated emergently.

She remained hypotensive; therefore, norepinephrine infusion was started. The circumstances around her arrest are unclear; there are medication bottles, but any suicidal ideation or attempt was not recorded. She also was reported to have frothy secretions, but no seizure disorder or seizure-like activity was reported. Patient has been hypotensive, receiving boluses of epinephrine and subsequently was started on norepinephrine infusion.”

Hospital Speak

SevenHills Hospital sources told the reporter that, looking at the condition of the patient, it cannot be predicted when she will recover. “She needs special care, more than medicine, which can be given at home. She may recover after being with her family for a while,” the source said.