JEDDAH, 12 September 2006 — Ana bint Ata Otag, the 31-year-old Indonesian maid who was allegedly abused and beaten by her sponsor’s wife, is still receiving treatment for her injuries at a Riyadh hospital.
According to sources the maid would most likely need to remain in hospital for another 20 days to fully recover. Ana’s Saudi sponsor, M. Al-Garni, a school vice principal, is cooperating with the Indonesian Embassy to pay the maid her outstanding salary for the six months she worked for the family.
Officials from the Indonesian Embassy brought Ana to hospital on Wednesday after she managed to escape from her sponsor’s home and get to the embassy.
Ana is being treated for various injuries including severe bruises on her back, shoulders, face and ears.
Nasser Al-Dandani, the lawyer hired by the embassy to follow the case, confirmed details about the abuse and added that the sponsor is so far being very cooperative in solving the issue and apologetic of his wife’s behavior.
“We are trying to work out an understanding with the sponsor to pay the maid her salary for the past six months, which they have withheld from her. He is also willing to pay her compensation for the abuse and allow her to return to her country,” said the lawyer.
Al-Dandani hopes that the matter will be resolved amicably without the involvement of the courts or a government agency.
Meanwhile, the sponsor and his wife have accused the maid of beating the couple’s three children and for being negligent in fulfilling house duties. But Al-Dandani said this was no excuse for abusing the maid and the couple could have simply terminated her contract and sent her back to her home country.
He however said that there was no record of Al-Garni and his wife, also a teacher, having problems with maids before.
Saudi families complain about the waste of money and time in brining in maids from abroad and then seeing them inefficient or run away.
In August last year, Deputy Minister of Labor Affairs Ahmed Mansour Al-Zamil warned employers that fail to honor the rights of their workers, including housemaids, and delay their salaries could face jail and be banned from recruiting workers.
The Labor Ministry earlier announced the formation of a special department to safeguard the rights of expatriate workers and impose penalties on employers who abuse them.
Al-Zamil said that the Department of Protection of Domestic Workers would receive complaints from maids who have been sexually harassed, mistreated or who have not been given their salaries. “If it is proven that an employer has not paid his maid, we will ban him from applying for any domestic workers for five years,” he said.
