Truemors
In Saudi Arabia it would seem that severe physical abuse of your domestic staff is perfectly acceptable after a couple who kept their maid tied up for a month and severely beat her walk free.
Nour Miyati was treated in a Riyadh hospital in March 2005 for gangrene, malnourishment and other injuries including broken teeth and damage to her eyes and hearing.
She said that her employers (who had not paid her for 18 months) kept her tied up in a bathroom and beat her severely after she had tried to escape. Her injuries were so bad that they required the amputation of her fingers, toes and part of her foot.
After leaving hospital Ms Miyati was arrested and charged with making false accusations against her sponsor and his
wife for which she was imprisoned and sentenced 79 lashes.
Thankfully this sentence was later overturned and Ms Miyati freed although she has not yet been allowed home.
Speaking about
the ruling, her lawyer (appointed by the Indonesian Embassy) said, “The judge did not consider the injuries
and amputations had been caused by the sponsor and his wife despite the
medical report… He did not take into consideration that she had not
been paid her salary for 18 months, that she was in good health when
she came to work here and that when her toes and fingers turned
gangrenous she was not taken to hospital early enough.
“Even her broken teeth, her injured eye, which doesn’t function properly, and hearing loss were not considered proof of abuse.”
Her sponsor was never charged due to 'lack of evidence' but his wife (who admitted abusing Ms Miyati) was initially found guilty and sentenced to 39 lashes however this verdict has been overturned by a reviewing judge and all the charges against the couple dropped.
“According to the judge, there was not enough evidence,” said her lawyer.
Ms Miyati was awarded SR2,500 in compensation (about $670 USD) for her injuries in court on Monday (5/21/08).
Human Rights Watch said the latest ruling "sends a dangerous message to
Saudi employers that they can beat domestic workers with impunity and
that victims have little hope of justice".
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