A Kuwaiti man is said to have admitted to killing his Ethiopian maid whose remains were accidentally found in a desert on December 7, according to news from Al-Anba daily.

According to initial Forensic report the maid was killed by a single fatal blow to the head. The interrogation with the accused showed he had buried the corpse of the victim to escape punishment.

The source added the Director of the Ahmadi Investigation Department Colonel Waleed Al-Drei and his assistant Major Salim Mardi followed up the case and assigned captains Yousef Yousef, and Khalaf Qabil to investigate the case after the remains were found buried in the desert.

Their investigations revealed the sponsor had filed a missing persons report on the maid 10 days before the remains were found.

The source said when the 33-year-old sponsor, identified only as F.A., was summoned for routine interrogation the officer was shocked when the sponsor easily confessed to murdering the woman.
He told the officer that he lost his temper when he discovered the maid was beating his children and on the night of the crime “I hit her on the head with a hard object but I did not intend to kill her.”
When she slumped on the floor, “I realized the blow was fatal. So I took the remains to the desert and buried them.”

The Al-Rai daily said the sponsor is a military man working for the Kuwaiti Army. The daily also said the man was always beating the maid and kept her starving for most of the time.

In a related development, Arab Times Online reported on Dec. 15 that Kuwait government is is currently studying the possibility of suspending Ethiopian maids. The news outlet reported that:

The Immigration General Department of the Interior Ministry is currently studying the possibility of suspending the recruitment of domestic workers from Ethiopia, reports Alam-Alyawm daily.

Reliable sources said the option was being considered in light of the increasing number of crimes and violations being committed by Ethiopian nationals. The decision, however, will affect only domestic workers. The recent crime in which an Ethiopian maid brutally murdered a Kuwaiti woman created a very negative impact, said sources, adding many Ethiopian maids were returned back to maid recruitment offices after the incident. Security sources said Ethiopian citizens were involved in 87 crimes, including murders, suicides and torturing of children, in the last four years.

The ministry is currently carrying out a study aimed at controlling such crimes. A study on the subject was earlier submitted, but it was rejected. After the recent incidents, however, the ministry formed a committee to review the study and make suitable recommendations. Sources say 90 percent of people polled by the ministry, including senior officials, support the suspension proposal. The ministry is currently thinking of ways to provide other alternatives as it cannot suspend the hiring of Ethiopian maids without providing an alternative.

Director at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Rashed Al-Hajri said here Thursday that the issues related to salaries and recruiting of domestic help would be a matter of coordination amongst state’s institutes. The coordination amongst ministries would make sure that such manpower would not be manipulated and exploited upon, said the official, adding that such coordination would also ensure the rights of employers.

Any violations on part of employers or employees would be faced with legal procedures that would ensure that justice would be served, said the official who indicated that prevention measures would be discussed amongst ministries to make sure that all involved parties followed the law.

Whether the Kuwaiti government can afford suspending Ethiopian workers is to be seen, as it is cheap labor, rather than benevolence, that made Ethiopians preferable in that country. However, it is probable that the news is a sound bit intended  to appease the gulf media which regularly whine about the ethics of foreigner domestic workers.

A brief review of the gulf media on Migrant-rights.org indicates that:

Recently, Gulf newspapers have exploded with headlines decrying the dangers of maids. Every few days, a new headline surfaces reprimanding maids for their sexual exploits, their untrustworthiness, and their violent tendencies. The cumulative effect inflames an already disparaging image of foreign domestic workers in Gulf societies.

Please read: ‘Gulf’s domestic workers unfairly represented in media’ on Migrant-rights.org.

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