My dad doesn't have a job. My mother eloped with another man. I'm the eldest daughter in a family of seven. Since the situation at home wasn't good I dropped out of school after eighth grade. I worried that if I didn't get a job my siblings wouldn't be able to go to school. My aunt offered to broker a trip for me to Kuwait, where she said I would earn a lot of money. I believed her.

I didn't have any money to get to Kuwait. My aunt assured me, "Don't worry, just give me 20 per cent of your earnings in Kuwait, you'll earn a lot there." I was giddy with excitement. She got my passport made, and sent me to Mumbai through Silgudi. I reached Kuwait on 24 July and was taken to an office where there were other women. They were all unemployed.

Slowly I began to understand that the office collected women and sold them to work in rich people's houses. Everyday, rich Kuwaiti men would drop by to see us, and picked those they liked to go home with them. We worked in the office until we were picked. I wasn't picked so everyday I washed the office floors and cleaned the windows. They took a blood sample from me, and I became sick soon after but wasn't given any medicine.

The office people beat me daily. They would throw me onto the floor and beat me. I didn't understand their language, but I think they were saying, "Nobody bought you. You cost us a lot of money." They didn't even feed me properly. They gave me one stale meal a day, so I began to lose a lot of weight. When I wasn't able to walk any more, they sent me back. I reached Kathmandu on 9 August. In such a short time, I had become all skin and bones. I'm still recovering now.

I thought my aunt was doing something good for me, instead she had sold me. When I returned, a couple of friends told me to contact my family. But I still haven't done so. Nobody should go to the Gulf. Even if it means starving to death, I'm not returning. I wouldn't wish it on my enemy.