KUWAIT: L.M., an Asian domestic worker who has just managed to escape from her employer''s house and wishes to remain anonymous, has suffered greatly at the hands of her violent and abusive employer.
In an exclusive interview with Al Watan Daily, L.M. explained how she got to this country and the harrowing ordeal that became the reality of her life in Kuwait. L.M., a fortyـyearـold woman who is married and has four children, used to live with her husband back home in a small house made of dried grass fronds and bamboo reeds erected in a middle of a plantation. She had heard that Kuwait was a good place to work and since not many cases of abuse had been reported in their local media, L.M. believed that Kuwait would be an ideal place for her to earn some money and improve her family''s financial situation. She decided to take out a loan using the land she owned as collateral to pay a local recruitment agency to find her a job as domestic helper in Kuwait.
L.M. recalled her first year of employment and described how the situation at home began to change when her female employer would travel and leave her alone with her male employer. L.M. sobbed as she narrated how she was sexually abused every time her female employer was not home. She attempted to report the abuse to her female employer many times, but the man threatened to kill her.
She finally managed to contact her agency and requested a job transfer, however her new employer also locked her up and raped her several times while refusing to pay her salary for two months. L.M. wanted to give up and return home, however she was convinced by her local agency to stay in Kuwait and was promised that she would be transferred to yet another house.
It was not too long before the agency found her another employer in the form of an Arab female divorcee. "She was very nice to me in the beginning. But then many things changed when one day she started hitting me hard on my face and wanted to rip my skin in half with her long nails. I bled many times and most of my nights were spent in a bathroom locked and bleeding," L.M. described to Al Watan Daily. She recalled not being fed for prolonged periods of time and being given merely water and a small piece of Arabic bread every three days. Her employer would let her out of the bathroom to clean and wash the clothes and would then lock her up once again the rest of the time."My employer sprayed insect killer on my whole body and in many instances mixed ''Clorox'' in the water which she offered me every now and then, she also forced me to eat chili powder. I've lost all my hair and my scalp has bled profusely when she banged my head against the wall and pulled my hair," L.M. added. She also described being sexually abused by her female employer who violated her private parts, pushed head inside the toilet bowl and constantly kicked her body till she would cry in agony and pain. All her clothes were thrown away and for fourteen months she wore the same clothes."After beating me, I remember my employer would sing and dance as if rejoicing.... If I started to cry, she would kick my stomach and hit my knees with anything she could get her hands on," L.M. said. She explained that she has been beaten while working and when she fell on the floor several times, her employer would step on her back till she screamed in pain. Part of L.M.'s skin has been burned by hot water being poured on her several times, and she has also lost a few of her teeth as a result of constant blows to the face. She also suffers from blurred vision in her left eye due to the scalding in hot water and the toxic substances thrown on her by her employer. Finding the main door open one day after food had been delivered to the house, L.M. took the chance to escape and sought refuge at a nearby store. The store owner took pity on her and called her a taxi, paid for the fare and gave the driver strict instructions to take her to her embassy. "She arrived at the embassy crying hysterically and we had to clean her up, her hair was almost gone and she was very weak," said K.K., another domestic worker who is being sheltered at the embassy''s safe house.
An embassy official who requested anonymity added: "We have already filed a field case against the employer and asked her local agency to provide assistance to facilitate her departure as soon as the case is over. Sometimes I wonder, when other maids kill their employers, in situations like these, is it justified? How many more domestic helpers are suffering in silence and how many times do we claim that we do not violate human rights? Who tells the truth... that is always the question.
Why have people become so cruel... dont you know the amount pain being inflicted... imagine the physical & mental ordeal this person has been through. Why treat a fellow human with such unkindness? Is humanity DEAD? What is the motive of such sadistic torturing of fellow human beings.
My question to those who have tortured this lady. Are you not a human - for sure you cannot be. Is your conscience dead? Would you like to see the same done to you or your dear ones? If you do follow any particular religion, is this what it tell you to do? If ever the accused were to be judged - they should be hanged till death after being whipped in public.
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