A Filipino maid has accused her female employer in Jeddah of burning her with a hot iron, Philippine media reported on Monday.
The allegations have caused widespread anger and shock among Filipinos in the Kingdom and the Philippines.
The Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) showed the alleged burn scars on her body to an online publication. She claimed her female employer burned her with a flat iron eight times in January, her sixth month working in Saudi Arabia as a domestic helper.
She said fear stopped her from fighting with her employer. She did not want to be named. She also accused the family of not paying her salary for four months.
The worker, who hails from Camarines Sur, claimed she tried to escape, but found that there were padlocks on the doors of her sponsor's house.
She said she escaped last month after her employer asked her to empty the trash bin outside, and went to the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah.
Staff from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) took her to a hospital for treatment. The Philippine Overseas Labor Office and the OWWA are now handling the case.
Philippine Consul General Uriel Norman Garibay said they have already filed a case against the worker's employer and that an investigation is under way.
A Filipino worker, Elsa Armada Abordo Bayani, said the only way to stop the abuse of workers is to prevent them from working abroad. She said workers have to suffer many indignities abroad, and had their families broken up at home.
Lark Michael Borines Colegado, another worker, said Filipinos should be stopped from working abroad.
Dan Dela Torres said that abuses would continue as long as women Filipinos work as domestic helpers overseas.
Another OFW, Ed Difuntorum Canlas, said the Philippine government should pass a law preventing women from working as domestic helpers.
Maria Elizabeth Embry, another worker, blamed her country's government for failing to provide jobs for its people at home.
Filipino maid accuses sponsor of torturing her with hot iron
