KUALA LUMPUR: The Nepal Foreign Affairs Ministry is recommending that trafficking victim Mala Vello and another Malaysian be freed from jail.
Malaysian embassy in Nepal charge d'affaires Mohd Firdaus Azman said they are currently working with the Nepali Home Ministry to sign off on the recommendations for both victims to be freed.
He said they are also waiting for an appointment with the Nepal Home Secretary to follow up on the matter.
"The Nepal Foreign Ministry has issued a recommendation to its Home Ministry to free Mala Vello and another fellow Malaysian, Nadarajah Ramasamy.
"After the Home Ministry signs off, it would have to refer it to the Finance Ministry as their fine for overstaying involves government revenue. The Finance Ministry would decide if the fine would be waived or not, and then the Home Ministry would have to refer it to Parliament.
"Only after that can they ask the Immigration Department to free them," he said to the New Straits Times on the latest episode of Beyond The Headlines.
Mala's story about her 10-year plight of being a human trafficking victim was featured on the New Straits Times front page on Monday.
The woman from Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan, was trapped and forced into domestic servitude after following her Nepali partner back to his home country.
Now aged 57, she had her passport withheld and was subjected to beatings, starvation, and constant threats of gang rape if she tried to go to the police.
After finally mustering enough courage to leave her partner, she sought help from the authorities, only to be jailed for seven years for overstaying her visa.
Mala has served two years of her sentence in a Nepali prison and only wants to return to Malaysia to see her seven children.
Firdaus had previously told the NST that 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.
Nadarajah, on the other hand, had traveled to Nepal in 2012 and invested in a business there but was then scammed and tricked by his business partner.
He was surrendered to authorities as he was without proper documentations for about 10 years and was subsequently jailed. He had initiated legal action and gained a Supreme Order from the Supreme Court to be freed.
However, despite the Supreme Order, Nadarajah's freedom is still pending sign-off by Nepal's Home Ministry, Finance Ministry and Parliament.
Firdaus said the Nepal Foreign Ministry had intervened to write a recommendation for the two Malaysians due to Malaysia and Nepal's close ties.
"We (the embassy) had asked its Foreign Ministry to intervene because of the good bilateral relations between Malaysia and Nepal, as we have released thousands of Nepalese citizens who overstayed in Malaysia with very minimal charges," said Firdaus.
He added that if Mala's fine was not waived and she was not freed then, they would explore other avenues including the legal platform.
Besides Mala and Nadarajah, Firdaus said there are five other Malaysian women who have overstayed in Nepal after following their partners there and subsequently getting married.
He said in these five cases, they also face issues of overstaying and currently without proper documentation.
He said efforts are being made to send them back to Malaysia.