KUALA LUMPUR: Project Liber8, the non-governmental organisation working to bring human trafficking victim Mala Vello home, has launched the #BawaMalaPulang campaign.
Its programme officer, Melissa Chin, said this was part of its effort to bring Mala home in time to celebrate Deepavali this year after being separated from her family for 12 years.
Mala, from Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan, was trapped and forced into domestic servitude after following her Nepali partner back to his home country for 10 years.
"When Mala finally escaped him, she was placed in immigration detention and later sentenced to prison for seven years.
"By the time her sentence is over, Mala will be 62 years old. She would have been separated from her family for 17 years," she said.
Yesterday, the New Straits Times reported that Mala had her passport withheld by her alleged trafficker and was subjected to beatings, starvation, and constant threats of gang rape if she tried to go to the police.
However, instead of being sent back to Malaysia after escaping her alleged trafficker, Mala was not recognised as a trafficking victim and was found guilty of overstaying under the Immigration Act and Rule of Nepal.
She was fined the equivalent of RM88,500, which she did not have. After failing to pay the fine, on March 7, 2022, she was sentenced to seven years' jail.
The Malaysian embassy in Nepal said it had faced difficulties in facilitating Mala's return to Malaysia due to political uncertainty in the south Asian country.
Its charge d'affaires Mohd Firdaus Azman said the embassy had issued two diplomatic notes in 2022, requesting the Nepali government's consideration for Mala's release, or at least to reduce the fine imposed on her.
Efforts, he said, were still being made to free her from prison.
Melissa said it was advocating to the Foreign Ministry for Mala's case to be recognised as trafficking with the help of several politicians.
She called on the public to amplify Mala's story by sharing her news on social media to their respective members of parliament.
Yesterday, Senator Datuk Sivaraj Chandran called on the Foreign Ministry to urge Nepali authorities and advocate for the release and safe return of a Malaysian woman currently imprisoned in Nepal under unjust circumstances.
