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Hospital fears for abused maid's life
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50/20100227_
BRUTAL: Indonesian maid Sariti Haiti shows signs of torture on her back to
doctors. (AN photo)
By MUHAMMAD AL-SULAMI | ARAB NEWS
Published: Feb 27, 2010 11:39 PM Updated: Feb 28, 2010 4:18 PM
JEDDAH: Erfan & Bagedo Hospital in Jeddah has rejected the request of Safa
police to hand over an Indonesian maid, who has been receiving treatment at
the hospital, to her sponsor.
The maid was admitted to hospital on Dec. 20, 2009 after she fell from the
third floor of her sponsor's apartment building.
The maid, Sariti Haiti, told hospital authorities that she had been tortured
by her sponsor. She was brought to hospital by Red Crescent officials with
injuries and bruises on different parts of her body. Initial reports said
the maid's backbone and neck were broken after falling from the building.
Doctors at the hospital observed that the maid had been beaten up and
tortured and they found signs of torture on her back in the form of burns
and signs of lashes. They also detected internal bleeding and an injury to
her head. The treatment bill reached SR120,000.
Dr. Ahmed Erfan, deputy general manager of the hospital, said the maid was
working for a Saudi woman. "We contacted her sponsor to pay the bill. A man
responded from the other side and acknowledged the maid worked for them but
refused to pay the bill," he said.
The hospital then contacted the Indonesian Consulate, which refused to
accept the hospital's letter by hand. It had to send the letter then by fax.
After a week a consulate representative came to inspect the condition of the
maid but he did not come back again. "After two months we wrote a letter to
Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majed, who promised he would follow up the
matter," he said.
Last week the hospital received a letter from the Safa police director
asking them to hand over the maid to her sponsor. "Fearing for the maid's
life, we placed her in the psychiatric section, which is guarded round the
clock. We also informed the National Society for Human Rights which told us
not to hand the woman over," he said.
Dr. Erfan expressed surprise that the consulate was not cooperating with the
hospital. He said the hospital would follow the instructions of the
governor. "We are not bothered about the bill but we are very concerned
about the maid's health," he added. The Human Rights Commission said it
would discuss the matter with the relevant authorities. The maid came to
Saudi Arabia in August 2009.
"After a month her woman sponsor started mistreating her," the maid said.
The maid said the sponsor used to throw her food in the bin when there was
any delay in completing her work. The sponsor also allegedly cut part of her
hair in the front in order to prevent her from going out and threatened her
that she would cut off all her hair.
The maid said the sponsor accused her of stealing her gold. "She took me in
front of her sons and removed all my clothes to check my body in order to
find out whether I had kept that gold under the clothing," she said. The
maid added her sponsor had also asked her to leave the house after giving
her the passport but she did not leave, fearing the woman would tell police
that she had run away.
"After some time, the sponsor said the taste of tea I was preparing had
changed as she accused me of urinating in the tea. I told her that it is
haram and I would never do it. She also forced me to drink the urine of her
children in front of them," she said. The maid said the sponsor had beaten
her head with a frying pan on Dec. 19, 2009, causing a deep injury on her
head. "My sponsor asked me to cover my head and remove the blood from the
ground. She threatened me that she would cut my body into pieces if I did
not follow her orders," she said.
"I was afraid that she would kill me one day," the maid said, adding that
she jumped from the apartment to escape from the sponsor. She did not
remember anything except the guard told her not to jump from the building.
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