Friday, August 2, 2013

Ethiopian Housemaid attacks employer, disabled girl

Saudi Gazette report


QATIF — An Ethiopian domestic worker would have almost killed her employer and her 16-year-old disabled niece had it not been for Civil Defense rescuers who arrived just in time, Al-Hayat daily reported on Thursday quoting the police.

The Ethiopian woman allegedly tried to gouge out the eyes of her employer, a 36-year-old Saudi woman, on Wednesday in the city of Al-Awamiya, said police spokesman Lt. Col. Ziyad Al-Ruqaiti.

She inflicted severe injuries on the disabled girl and then locked the girl and her employer in a room.

The employer called the police from her cell phone.


The girl was rushed to the Safawi General Hospital where she is lying in critical condition while the employer was treated for her injuries and is listed in good condition. Her alleged attacker was arrested.

Al-Ruqaiti said the Ethiopian woman also beat up the disabled girl and her aunt.

Investigations are ongoing to find out why she tried to kill the girl and gouge out her aunt’s eyes.

The employer’s sister, who locked herself up in another room for fear that the housemaid would attack her, broke down and collapsed when she saw the woman beating up her sibling and niece, he said.

This attack comes after an Ethiopian house helper allegedly stabbed a Syrian girl in the head, killing her, while another one slit the throat of a little girl. The suspect in the Syrian girl’s murder told police during investigations that she stabbed the victim because she did not like her and she would bother her a lot.

She stabbed her with a knife in the head several times and watched her bleed to death.

The Ministry of Labor has recently imposed a moratorium on recruitment from Ethiopia after a spate reports about crimes involving workers from the country.

The ministry will conduct a study on the crimes committed by Ethiopian domestic workers before making a final decision about recruitment from Ethiopia.

In response to the Saudi move, the Ethiopian authorities halted the processing of 40,000 visas that had been approved earlier.

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