- JEDDAH: A number of lawyers in Madinah have volunteered to help in the appeal against the recent court’s decision to acquit a Saudi woman who was accused of torturing Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa, her Indonesian maid.
“The lawyers want to defend the maid because the ruling is not convincing,” said the maid’s lawyer, Saud Al-Hujaili. “How can the woman be sentenced to three years in jail and then acquitted of the charges?”
Sumiati ended up in hospital in November with numerous injuries, including broken bones, internal bleeding and lips that had been cut with scissors.
The Saudi woman denies she abused the maid and said the maid was into self-abuse. The accused was acquitted on appeal by Judge Sheikh Faisal bin Mohammad Al-Sheikhon because of lack of investigative evidence.
The woman’s lawyer, Abdul Rahman Al-Hajar, is demanding SR37 million in restitution and an apology from the court.
He also said the apology should be to all Saudis who have been stereotyped by the international media as maid abusers.
