KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan has extended his appreciation to the Nepali government for its assistance in bringing Mala Vello home.
He said Mala, 57, was able to return and reunite with her family after being trafficked and subsequently jailed in Nepal.
"I am pleased and grateful that Mala has been able to return to Malaysia and reunite with her family after more than 10 years of living in suffering and cruelty as a victim of human trafficking.
"Thanks are extended to the Nepali government for assisting in the efforts to bring Madam Mala back to her family," he said when contacted.
Earlier today, Mala reunited with her family at Kuala Lumpur International Airport after a 12-year wait.
On May, 20, the New Straits Times reported that Mala, from Port Dickson, was trapped and forced into domestic servitude for 10 years after following her Nepali partner to his home country.
Her passport was withheld, and she was subjected to beatings, starvation and constant threats of gang rape if she attempted to seek help from the police.
When she left her partner and sought assistance, she was charged for overstaying under the Immigration Act and Rules of Nepal and fined the equivalent of RM88,500.
Failing to pay the fine, she was sentenced to seven years' jail on March 7, 2022.
Mala was not classified as a human trafficking victim, as Nepal's Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act only applies to Nepali citizens.
On a call with the NST from Central Jail in Sundhara, Kathmandu, she described her 10-year captivity as "hell on earth."
Mohamad Hasan previously said the ministry, through its mission in Kathmandu, was monitoring the case.
The Malaysia embassy in Nepal charge d'affairs Firdaus Azman said the embassy had issued two diplomatic notes in 2022, requesting the Nepali government's consideration for Mala's release, or to reduce the fine imposed on her.
Following that, the Nepali Foreign Ministry wrote a letter to its Home Ministry recommending the release of Mala and another Malaysian from jail.
On Wednesday, Firdaus told the NST that Mala was released by the courts as she was lawfully detained and will be flying home to Malaysia.