A Filipino maid was rescued by Philippine embassy officials from her employer in Bahrain after she posted a desperate cry for help on the social networking site Facebook.
Staff at the Philippine embassy were alerted to the plight of Abby Luna, 28, who claimed she was raped and beaten by her employer’s son, after she posted a three-minute video on her Facebook page on Thursday morning.
READ: OFW in Bahrain seeks help via video
Luna’s tearful plea made the rounds online, attracted about 78,000 shares and 19,000 likes, reaching the Philippine authorities who made her rescue possible.
“The rescue was prompted by the video message…She is now under the care of our embassy,” Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Charles Jose told AFP.
Philippine embassy officials and staff from Luna’s employment agency picked her up from her employer’s house, Jose said, adding that police were investigating the incident.
Luna’s alleged assailant denied to police that he attacked her, Ricky Aragon, vice consul at the Philippine embassy in Bahrain, told AFP by phone.
In the three-minute long video, which appears to have been made on a webcam, a sobbing Luna accused her employer’s “drug addict” son of raping her. She also posted a written appeal for viewers to contact the Philippine embassy on her behalf.
“Help me get out of here. I’m scared. Until now, my genitals hurt. My leg is bruised. He (attacker) punched my leg to immobilize me,” said Luna, a resident of Los Baños, Laguna, who had been working in Bahrain for a year.
“After my employer’s son abused me, he threatened to kill me and bury me in the desert if I tell anyone about what happened.”
Luna said her employer did not believe her claims of being raped and beaten and insisted she finish the remaining two months of her contract before she could go home. Her employer also told her to have an abortion if she felt pregnant, she added.
Wearing a green T-shirt, Luna narrated her ordeal to netizens in a hushed voice while constantly wiping away her tears.
According to her Facebook post, she was raped and beaten on April 8 by her employer’s son whom she described as a drug dependent.
2 more months
She said she fought back, but her employer’s son tore off her undergarment, kicked and punched her.
After telling the incident to her employer, she said she was told to wait for two more months.
Her employer promised to buy her a plane ticket but using her money since she was unable to finish her contract.
“I want to go home. I don’t want this,” she said airing her fear that her attacker could have impregnated her.
Luna had sought the help of the Philippine embassy in Bahrain but did not get any response.
In the same Facebook post, she wrote her address “Roundabout 7, Block 1208, Road 812, Flat 813, Hamad town, Bahrain,” to help embassy officials locate her.
“Tulungan niyo ako (Help me), please,” Luna pleaded in the video with her hands clasped.
The video was first picked up by tabloid newspaper Bandera, a sister company of the Philippine Daily Inquirer which then tipped off the Inquirer.net and the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Luna’s Facebook plea became viral and was reported in the Inquirer platforms, including Bandera and Inquirer.net where it became the most read story yesterday. Inquirer.net then referred her case to DFA.
On Thursday, the DFA confirmed that embassy personnel in Bahrain were able to rescue Luna and bring her to safety.
“The embassy worked with her local recruitment agency to get her out of her employer’s house,” Jose said in a text message.
Jose said Luna had filed a case against her attacker and police investigation into the incident was underway.
Philippine authorities took Luna to the hospital, according to Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) chief Hans Leo Cacdac.
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said an initial check showed that Luna has no record with the POEA.
This was confirmed by Cacdac, who said: “We do not have her name in our database.”
Luna is among an estimated 10 million Filipinos working overseas to escape poverty and high levels of unemployment in the Philippines.
Last year, a Filipino maid, Nargelene Mendez, was rescued from a house in Saudi Arabia after posting a video on her Facebook page claiming her employer had abused her. AFP, with reports from Niña P. Calleja and Tina G. Santos
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