Amnesty has brought a ray of hope to a 73-year old Indian woman, who has been living in Abu Dhabi for more than 20 years as an undocumented resident.

The woman hailing from Kerala, who wishes to be identified by her surname Dunstan, said she was a successful businesswoman once, but lost everything. Now at the autumn of her life, all she wants is to spend her last days in her home country.

"My heath is deteriorating day by day. I am highly diabetic and am blind in the right eye. I can hardly walk. I am living on handouts from neighbours. I don't know how I will survive in India as I don't have a penny. But it is better to die in your own country," Dunstan told Khaleej Times.

But this Septuagenarian who came to Abu Dhabi from Mumbai in 1977, claims she has had her heydays as the general manager of World Wide Properties, a real estate company that was based in the Capital.

"I was doing so well in life and many important people were my clients. But things fell apart when I was imprisoned for cases related to bounced cheques. I lost my business and I was in debt."

But Dunstan could not confirm the year or the term of her imprisonment. "I don't remember exactly which year I was jailed. That was so many years ago. Now my memory is also failing me," she said.

Though Khlaeej Times could not independently verify her term of imprisonment, a copy of her release order stated that she was released from A Wathba jail in 1998.

"When I came out of jail, my family disowned me. No one wanted to even talk to me as though I were a criminal. I had no one to go back to India, so I stayed back in the UAE all these years," said Dunstan, who is a widow. "My husband died in an accident in India when my daughter was five years old. She was staying in India with my sister while I was working in Abu Dhabi. Now, everyone has cut ties with me, and I have to fend for myself."

Dunstan said her passport was taken away from her some twenty years ago by her landlord because she did not pay rent. "My visa also got expired. But I survived by selling real estate as a freelancer to pay off my debt. But since last many years, even that was not possible because of my poor health. I am still willing to work but no one will want to hire an old lady.

"I am pinning my hope on amnesty, and I hope someone will help me in my old age. I only need enough money to be able to buy food and medicines," said Dustan.

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