A video plea from an Indian worker allegedly trapped in Saudi Arabia has gone viral on social media, prompting diplomatic intervention from the Indian Embassy in Riyadh.
The man, said to be from Handia in Prayagraj district of Uttar Pradesh, appears in the video visibly distressed and claiming that his employer — identified only as “Kapil” — has confiscated his passport and is threatening to kill him. He pleads with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help him return home, saying, “Please help me, I will die.”
The video was accompanied by an appeal to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. “Honourable Foreign Minister, please take immediate cognisance. A resident of Handia, Pratappur in Prayagraj, is stranded in Saudi Arabia,” the post read.
“My village is in Allahabad… I came to Saudi Arabia. Kapil has my passport. I told him I need to go home, but he is threatening to kill me,” the man claimed in the video. The video features the words, “I want to go to my mother.”
He urges social media users to circulate the video widely so it might reach Prime Minister Modi. “Share this video so much that, with your support from India, I can get help and come back to India,” he says.
The Indian Embassy in Riyadh responded within hours of the video gaining traction online.
“The Embassy has been trying to locate the person. No further action can be taken as the video does not contain any details about the location/province in Saudi Arabia, or contact number or employer details,” the Embassy replied on X.
Embassy has been trying to locate the person. No further action can be taken as the video does not contain any details about the location/province in Saudi Arabia, or contact number or employer details.@Lawyer_Kalpana please seek details from the source of the video you have…
— India in Saudi Arabia (@IndianEmbRiyadh) October 24, 2025
The incident comes just weeks after Saudi Arabia formally abolished its controversial kafala (sponsorship) system, an employment framework that had long been accused of enabling exploitation and abuse of migrant workers.
Introduced in the 1950s, the kafala system required all foreign workers to be tied to a local sponsor, known as a kafeel, who controlled their employment, movement, and even their ability to leave the country. Under this system, employers could confiscate workers’ passports, deny them exit visas, and restrict their ability to change jobs, creating conditions described by human rights groups as akin to modern-day slavery.
Saudi Arabia’s decision to scrap the system, part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 reforms, was presented as a landmark labour rights improvement. The reform is expected to benefit nearly 13 million migrant workers, including about 2.5 million Indians currently employed in the Kingdom.