“The NSHR is daily visiting the maid at King Fahd Hospital in order to ensure that she is being treated by a specialized medical team in the best possible manner,” General Supervisor at the Madinah branch of the NSHR Muhammad Al-Oufi told Arab News on Saturday.
Al-Oufi added that the NSHR has confirmed that the police took necessary steps to investigate the case the moment they received the report about the crime. “We are awaiting the result of the investigations and will continue to follow up until the culprits are punished,” he said. He said NSHR learned from its initial inquiries that Sumiati was subjected to torture for quite some time. She carried burns and maiming injuries, wounds caused by a sharp instrument, bruises on her upper lips and scalp in addition to swollen feet indicating severe and continuous beating. “The maid also told us that the lady of the house where she worked used to lock her up in a bathroom without food. At times the imprisonment lasted up to three days. She said she started working in the lady’s house in July,” said the official.
The chairman of the Committee of Labor Recruitment Offices at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry Yahya Hassan Aal Maqbul told Arab News that the Indonesian media have blown the abuse of the maid out of proportion, depicting such abuse as a normal practice in Saudi society. “In fact this is the result of abnormal behavior of a person that could occur in any society,” he said. “Such behavior is reprehensible and unacceptable by any standards. The perpetrator should not be allowed to escape punishment stipulated by Shariah.”
He said there have been reports of many instances in which babies were killed by maids, but no furor was made over such incidents.
Speaker of the Indonesia's House or Representatives Marzuki Alie told journalists on Friday that the government should halt sending migrant workers to Saudi Arabia if Saudi authorities do not show good will in Sumiati's case.
East Nusa Tenggara Gov. Zainul Majdi also announced a moratorium on sending maids from his province to Saudi Arabia. Sumiati is from East Nusa Tenggara. These moves came as reports that the body of Kikim Komalasari, a 36-year-old Indonesian maid, was found dumped in the southwestern city of Abha. A Saudi couple have been detained for questioning.
