JEDDAH, 3 October 2003 — An expatriate maid died while another was seriously injured in separate attempts to escape from their Saudi sponsors in Makkah.
The first maid lost her life while she was trying to escape from her sponsor’s locked fourth floor apartment. She attempted to abseil from the window by tying several bedsheets together while the sponsor and his wife were away.
But the knots were not strong enough to hold the woman and the baggage she was carrying on her back and she fell several stories onto the sidewalk and died instantly, according to Al-Madinah Arabic newspaper. The incident took place in the Taneem district of Makkah on Monday.
In the second incident, which occurred in the Zahra district, the Indonesian maid used a television lead to abseil from her sponsor’s third floor apartment.
“She stole gold and jewelry from the apartment before leaving by the window,” the paper said. The cable snapped when the woman reached the level of the second floor. She fell on a car parked near the building, sustaining serious injuries.
Saudi Red Crescent Society volunteers took the maid to King Abdul Aziz Hospital. Police have opened an investigation into the two incidents.
Runaway maids have become a frequent problem for Saudi employers. Many maids escape with their employer’s valuables.
The increase of cases in the past few years has variously been attributed to sexual harassment and beatings from the employers, long working hours without days-off, as well as the maids’ lack of Arabic or inability to operate various household gadgets.
Indonesians top the list of domestic staff in the Kingdom followed by Sri Lankans, Indians, Filipinos, Eritreans and Egyptians. According to an official report, 3,382 maids from Sri Lanka alone ran away from their sponsors last year.
Most maids run away from their sponsors on Thursdays and Fridays, making it more difficult for their Saudi sponsors to inform the police.
The department for expatriate affairs gives five days to the sponsor to report absconding maids. “After five days they have to pay a fine,” a senior official at the department said.
