A Filipina domestic helper in Saudi Arabia was raped three times on separate occasions by Arab men, including her own employer, before she was finally saved by three African nationals who brought her to the Philippine consulate general in Jeddah, her sister said yesterday.
The Filipina maid’s sister asked the assistance of Vice President and Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) Noli de Castro for the repatriation of the victim, who has been staying at the consulate since Tuesday.
The 30-year-old OFW, a single mother, called her sister in Manila and claimed that she was raped by her Arab employer identified only as Mr. Basara and two other Arab men after she fled her employer’s house.
She said she was only on her third day at work last Nov. 10 when she was raped while her employer’s wife was not in the house.
On Christmas Day, the Filipina maid escaped by jumping out of the window using tied blankets.
While running away, a Saudi national offered to bring her to the consulate, but reportedly also raped her. The second suspect brought her to his friend’s house where she was instructed to board a vehicle that would take her to the consulate.
But the driver parked the vehicle in a dark place where she was reportedly raped for the third time.
Three African nationals who were passing the area heard the victim scream and shouting for help.
“ The two Arab men were going to run over her with a car after raping her. But it was a good thing that three African nationals came by and heard her cry for help, that’s why she was able to make it to the consulate,” the victim’s sister told De Castro during his weekly radio program “Para sa Iyo Bayan.”
De Castro ordered the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration to investigate the victim’s local manning agent Saramai Philippines Inc.
The contract signed by the victim indicated that she would work as juicemaker at King Faizal Military City Administration with a monthly salary of $370, but the agency insisted that she sign another contract with a monthly salary of only $200. – Pia Lee-Brago