Not too long after the unsettled case of the domestic helper who died in the Gulf State in May, another issue springs out, once again testing bilateral relations of the Philippines and Kuwait, as well as the political will of the Gulf State regarding worker’s rights protection and its justice system.
A newly arrived OFW has allegedly been sexually abused by a Kuwaiti airport officer, the latest in a string of events that shocked the Filipino community since last month. Considering the perpetrator and the victim in this case, there is much at stake for the two cooperating countries, which have gone through some rough patches in recent times.
Kuwaiti Envoy Says Suspect in Pinay Rape Case May Face Death Penalty
In an update, Ambassador Musaed Saleh Ahmad Althwaikh, Kuwait’s envoy to Manila, shared that the police officer who allegedly raped the Filipina maid who had just arrived in the Gulf state could face death penalty under Kuwaiti laws, as shared in a report by MSN News.
According to the Kuwaiti envoy, all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states have been alerted that the suspect, Fayed Naser Hamad Alajmy, 22, has been charged with rape offense by the Kuwaiti court.
He noted that the suspect has already been charged with rape under Article 186 of Kuwait Penal Law No. 16/1960.
The said law imposes a penalty of life imprisonment or death for anyone who would have sexual intercourse with a woman without her consent through the use of force, threat or deception.
Under the same law, the offender would be sentenced to death if he is an “ascendant” of the victim, or someone entrusted with her upbringing or welfare or vested with authority over her, as in the case of an airport officer to a newly arrived foreign national.
According to investigations, Alajmy was the one who assisted the Filipina for finger scanning registration at the airport upon her arrival in Kuwait last June 4.
As per the DFA, the employer of the Filipina is also cooperating with the embassy and local authorities on the case.
This period is crucial because how the Kuwaiti government will respond to this situation will determine the course of action by which the Philippine government will base its legal response, particularly in the form of a deployment ban, of which many migrant rights groups have been calling for since the death of OFW Constancia Lago Dayag.