Cases of abuse involving employer and employee are typically brought up to court in places such as Kuwait and in other parts of the Middle East where demand for domestic workers remains at a steady high.
However, these cannot be simply taken as any other assault or battery case because it involves violation of human rights safeguarded by the victim’s home country in reference to their host country’s existing laws.
Kuwaiti Employer Found Not Guilty of Torturing Her Maid
In relation to this, the Court of Cassation overturned the verdict of the Court of Appeals, which sentenced a Kuwaiti woman to three years and four months in prison with hard labor, as shared in a report by the Arab Times Online.
In a statement shared by the respective court, it said: “The higher court hereby acquitted the woman of torturing her housemaid and causing 40 percent partial disability by battering and hitting the housemaid with iron.”
Prior to this, the Public Prosecution charged the Kuwaiti employer with inflicting injuries on the housemaid when she battered her with dangerous objects and hit her with iron.
Furthermore, the medical report indicated that the maid suffered serious injuries in the ears, lost some hair in the head and sustained broken fingers in both hands leading to 40 percent disability all over the body.
According to local news reports, the judge at the court of appeals decided to acquit the woman after her lawyer argued that there was contradictions in police evidence and the tools used by the employer to torture her maid.
The Kuwaiti woman’s lawyer, Attorney Fatmah Al-Shatti, argued that the verbal submissions were inconsistent with documented technical evidence regarding the objects used in torturing the maid. Al-Shatti pointed out that nothing concrete proved that the injuries sustained by the maid happened on the day in question. She cited Article 81 of the Penal Code to support her argument.
Unfortunately for the victim whose identity was withheld, there was no arrangement or settlement declared for the ruling of the case.
Regardless of who committed the crime, which led to the domestic helper’s partial disability, there has to be a follow-up investigation as to whom should be made accountable to the law, as this goes beyond a country’s national laws – because this is one that covers human rights and international diplomacy.
Otherwise, we cannot expect any kind of fair treatment coming from foreign employers in the country involved on the basis of their government’s justice system.
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