Hyderabad: A Telangana nurse is fighting for her future in Saudi Arabia, where a crippling road accident left her 87% permanently disabled and an unpaid bank loan of nearly Rs 38 lakh has prevented her from returning home for treatment.Gugulotu Sunita, 36, an intensive care unit (ICU) nurse specialist from Urtikammapad village in Chivvemla mandal of Suryapet district, has been stranded in Saudi Arabia since 2025, and her mother Gugulotu Parengi submitted a petition at the CM Pravasi Prajavani programme on July 31, urging chief minister A Revanth Reddy to extend legal, financial and diplomatic assistance to help bring her daughter back to Telangana.“My daughter devoted her life to saving countless patients. Today, I beg the govt to save my daughter and bring her back home,” Parengi said.After completing Bachelor of Science in nursing, Sunita travelled to Saudi Arabia on Sept 7, 2024, in search of better opportunities and to support her family. She joined King Abdullah Hospital in Aseer province in southwest Saudi Arabia as an ICU nurse specialist.Her life changed dramatically on April 23, 2025, when she suffered serious injuries on both hands, spine, and head in a road accident. She underwent multiple surgeries, during which metal plates were implanted in her body.A Saudi medical board later assessed her as having 87% permanent disability and declared her medically unfit to continue her profession. She subsequently lost her job and, according to her family, has been bedridden ever since, dependent on others even for basic daily activities.Her salary was discontinued in Nov 2025, leaving her without any source of income to meet mounting medical, legal, and living expenses. Before the accident, Sunita had availed a loan of 1,48,000 Saudi riyals from Al Rajhi Bank for family needs. According to the petition, the outstanding amount is valued at Rs 37.8 lakh.The family said documents relating to her accident, disability and inability to work were submitted to the bank, but the issue remains unresolved. As a result of the unpaid debt, Saudi authorities imposed a travel ban, preventing Sunita from leaving the country despite her medical condition and need for long-term treatment and rehabilitation in India.Family’s sole breadwinnerThe petition states that Sunita was the primary earning member of a below poverty line family and had shouldered major financial responsibilities for years. She paid for her mother’s heart surgery and her father’s brain surgery and supported the education, marriages and maternity expenses of her three sisters.Following the death of her brother in 2011, she also took responsibility for raising his two children. With her income gone and her medical condition worsening, the family says it is unable to bear the costs of her treatment and legal proceedings.Parengi sought financial and legal assistance under the Indian Community Welfare Fund and requested govt support to facilitate Sunita’s medical repatriation, resolve the bank loan dispute, secure the lifting of the travel ban and arrange advanced treatment in Telangana.The family said it had repeatedly approached the embassy of India in Riyadh and the Consulate General of India in Jeddah but has yet to find a solution that would enable Sunita’s return. The petition was taken up by Mandha Bheem Reddy, vice-chairperson of the Telangana govt’s NRI advisory committee.
