She’s jailed but is justice delivered?

A woman was jailed for 3yrs in the Holy City of Medina for severely abusing her domestic helper. Sumiati, 23, an Indonesian helper was allegedly beaten, mutilated with scissors and burned (with hot iron on her face) by her employer and was admitted to hospital with broken bones and burn.

This trial is being seen as a watershed moment in Saudi justice system, given that majority of foreign worker abusers go unpunished.

Her case shocked the world and the local/global media has been accused of blowing the case disproportionately. I don’t know how you could ‘balance’ a story like this, I commend those columnists and reporters who put justice first and nationalism second. Our society is not perfect, perfection lies in admitting our imperfections.

In my country, what happens at home --- stays at home. as a result, nobody knows how employers abuse their employees or how sometimes even employees try to take advantage of employers.

The sentence appears to be less than what Saudi Law allows, i.e. at least 15 years. Three years seems way too lenient for such a horrific crime.

We need a system that discourages abuse, reduce foreign workers vulnerability and a better understanding of how this employer-employee relationship could work better inside homes !

It is a responsibility of both gov to ensure individuals rights are respected.

N.B. : Migrant Care, an Indonesian NGO, is conducting a fund raising to accumulate an estimated US$ 188,700 to bring back 200 workers stranded in Saudi Arabia. Their website http://www.humantrafficking.org/organizations/113