‘Raped Filipina recovering from ordeal’

The Philippine embassy in Kuwait has come to the aid of a runaway Filipina maid who was reportedly gang-raped in desert camps by 17 men, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos said the Filipina rape victim was sent to the hospital and given immediate medical care and is now undergoing psychological counseling in the Philippine embassy.

"She’s in good condition now. She has been to the hospital. She’s undergoing some sort of psychological intervention in our embassy. She’s now in our embassy," Conejos told The STAR in a telephone interview yesterday.

While the victim may want to go home to the Philippines after her traumatic experience, Conejos said her presence in Kuwait may be required to build up the case against the Kuwaiti and Iraqi suspects arrested by the Kuwaiti police for the rape.

"The perpetrators have already been arrested by the police. And we have retained a Kuwaiti lawyer to prosecute them. So they are now under investigation," Conejos said.

He said the Philippine embassy, headed by Ambassador Ricardo Endaya, confirmed that the rape victim had run away from her employer for a yet undisclosed reason and was later abducted by Kuwaiti men who raped her. Two other groups of men later took turns sexually abusing her.

"She was trying to leave her employer. In Kuwait, it’s very dangerous for a woman to be going around even in the daytime," Conejos said.

It was learned that a string of Filipina workers had fallen victim to rape in Kuwait in the past years.