Traumatised, mentally ill woman repatriated from Saudi Arabia

Jeddah: Handling a mentally-ill person with memory loss by itself is not an easy task, and if the person is in an alien land with language barriers, it becomes doubly challenging. This is the tale of 38-year-old Bandala Annemma from Kadapa in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh who landed in Saudi Arabia for better prospects in February this year.

Having lost her memory and with wounds on her face, she knocked on the doors of the Indian Embassy on May 5. The embassy shifted her to hospital for treatment and later it was found that the woman was suffering from psychological disorder and memory loss induced by trauma. She was unable to remember who she was and how she ended up in Saudi Arabia.

Based on her Iqama (residency visa), the embassy traced her passport and she was identified as Annemma, a native of Kadapa town. She was provided psychiatric treatment by the Indian Embassy besides providing safe shelter for her. After over a month-long pursuit with local immigration officials, the Indian embassy secured her exit permit but sending her in that state by flight was a real challenge for embassy officials.

The embassy officials led by young diplomat MR Sajeev not only tried for safe repatriation of destitute women but also tried to contact the family in Andhra Pradesh.

When it was found that her parents had died and husband was not ready to accept the mentally ill wife, the Indian Embassy contacted the District Collector of Kadapa and AP NRT, the State government arm that deals with NRI cases, to receive the woman on her arrival in India and provide treatment and shelter.

BH Elias, director of AP NRT, went to Hyderabad airport from Vijayawada to receive the woman, took her to Kadapa and placed her in a government-run women’s shelter home.