Illegal OFW injured after trying to escape abusive employer

A Filipina domestic helper holding a counterfeit passport injured herself after attempting to flee her abusive employer in Kuwait.

According to Kuwait Times,  17-year-old Malaiha Omar, who entered Kuwait under the fake identity of 24-year-old Rahima Omar, jumped from the sixth floor of her employer’s residence after admitting to stealing 110 Kuwaiti dinars (P18,117) from the employer. “Only small mistakes, but they would shout at me and hit me in the face. I know how angry they could be. When they said that they are calling [a] police, I was terribly scared,” she told the news site. ” I don’t know what to do because I don’t want to be arrested, so I jumped from the sixth floor.”

Omar, who is from Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao, is currently at Mubarak hospital for treatment of her fractured leg and injured left eye. She narrated how her employer discovered the theft incident.

READ: Filipina ‘beaten to death’ in Kuwait

“My male employer was asking about [his] missing pants, ” he narrated. “Out of fear, I said I don’t know, but I knew where the pants are. I was just too scared to tell him because I don’t want to be whipped again. I accidentally burned the pants while I was ironing them. So, he inspected my cabinet and found the damaged pants inside. There, he also found the money (110 Kuwaiti dirhams.).” Prior to her hospitalization, Omar was paid wages but she never received a day off and barely left the house.

READ: OFW Jakatia Pawa hanged to death in Kuwait – DFA

Back in 2016, Omar sough job through a recruitment agency, which gave her a fake passport with a different name and age for her to work abroad. She claimed she was mistreated by her sponsors for several months.

Omar’s recruitment agency told the Philippine Embassy that she would not file a lawsuit against her employers. “I went to the hospital to check her condition and see how we could be of help whether the agency is helping or not. According to the recruitment agency personnel I spoke with, the young girl will not be filing complaints against her sponsor because she said it was her fault,” a spokesperson for the embassy told the news site. However, Omar is not pardoned as she will face attempted suicide charges filed by the local police.

READ: Ban on sending Filipino domestic helpers to Kuwait eyed

In a report by Arab Times, citing Al-Anba, another case of repeated maltreatment against a Filipino maid has been recorded. A Kuwaiti employer was reported to be bribing her former Filipina helper to drop a case filed against her. The OFW, who is currently hospitalized at Amiri Hospital, escaped from her female employer after she suffered a wound on her left arm and multiple bruises all over her body.

Due to spiraling cases of abuse and the recent execution of Filipina helper Jakatia Pawa, the Department of Labor and Employment is considering implementing a ban on domestic helper deployment to Kuwait.  Gianna Francesca Catolico