JEDDAH: Philippine officials are to ask the Saudi government to send home “for humanitarian considerations” a 35-year-old Filipino woman who was thrown in jail in the northeastern city of Hafr Al-Batin for alleged immoral acts.
Vice Consul Paul Saret of the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh on Friday said they could not push for the woman’s immediate release since her case is under investigation by the Investigation and Prosecution Commission. The woman, who has been identified as “Camille” in the Philippine media, is the mother of three children back home.
“The case is still with the prosecutor’s office. We will get the latest update tomorrow,” said Saret, describing as premature speculation that the woman faces 100 lashes as punishment.
Camille was thrown in jail in September after her employer turned her over to authorities because she got pregnant out of wedlock by a coworker who allegedly raped her.
The woman had initially reported that she was gang-raped, but police said she claimed during investigation that she was raped by only one person, a Bengali man who was her coworker at a dental clinic in Hafr Al-Baten.
She chose not to report what happened for fear that her rapist would kill her, the online news site GMANews.Tv said in a report on Friday, quoting the woman’s mother.
The report said the woman was only three months into her job when the supposed rape happened. A resident of Quezon City in Metropolitan Manila, she went to the Kingdom last May to work at the clinic on a two-year contract.
When her pregnancy was discovered in September during a medical check-up, her employer reported her to local authorities who threw her in jail and placed her under investigation.
Saret and the head of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in the Eastern Province, Labor Attaché Des Dicang, explained that the Saudi police view this as a moral crime and not rape. A Bangladeshi man is reportedly in custody as well.
Arab News learned that police were also looking into reports that the woman had an affair with two other men — another expatriate and a fellow Filipino.
“That’s why the police were disappointed when the woman suffered a miscarriage. They were eager to find out who among the three was the father of the baby,” a community member familiar with the case said.
Saret and Dicang refused to delve into details, saying the woman’s status, as a “family woman” should be taken into consideration.
The two officials assured the woman’s family that they were not remiss in their duties in helping the woman, contrary to claims by an advocacy group.
“We assure you that we’re doing our very best to assist all our compatriots who run afoul with local laws,” said Dicang, who has been cited by community organizations in Jeddah for his work when he was assigned to the POLO Western Region several years ago.
