The situaiton in Kuwait the past two weeks has been chaotic and ugly.
The Arab Times reports here on a 39-year old Indian worker who has died. Her body was found in her sponsor’s house after -it is presumed- that she committed suicide. A case was filed- let us hope it is a little more hopeful than the tons of previous other cases filed time and again.
On the same note, it was reported that another Asian- nationality not specified- has died. One of his flatmates called the police to say he was found unconscious in the house. No cause of death has yet been identified.
Also in the Arab Times, a similair incident of a Sri Lankan maid’s attempted suicide is reported. She cut her wrist but the employer caught her bleeding and called the police before the situation became more tragic.
Yet another story relating to clorox. An Indian domestic worker has also died drinking clorox. It was reported that she “mistakenly” drank the substance and that thereby, this is not close in any way to be a planned suicide.
Also in Kuwait, a Filipina domestic worker testifies how her employer was going to “gauge out her eyes”. Angela had been subjected to systematic torture (beating with iron, food deprivation, broken nose, amongst other injuries) in the months she has served at her employer. She says she was treated as an animal throughout her employment term before she succeeded in escaping. Her employer forgot to lock the door that day. She is partially blind now.
Suicide amongst domestic workers in Kuwait is an extremely common tragedy. One only needs to scan through the various cases and endless reports to witness this outrageous pattern that remains unaddressed by the Kuwaiti government. It requires an immediate and cautious intervention or at this rate, it is possible that these statistics will haunt Kuwait’s history forever.