MANILA, Philippines — Forty-four-year-old domestic helper Mary Jean Alberto allegedly jumped to her death from the 13th floor of a building in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, but her children suspected foul play.
Her children said their mother’s employer had attempted to strangle her less than 24 hours before her death.
Ronel, her eldest son, said it took a day for them to learn of the incident because they had lost contact with her.
“We only found out about her death when our eldest sister, Rohjean, contacted our mother’s employer and was told she had committed suicide by jumping from the balcony of their building,” he said.
But Ronel said they found the circumstances over Mary Jean’s “death” suspicious since her employer said she was woken up by a sound of “something falling” to the ground on the morning of Oct. 2, and that policemen were already present at the scene.
“How can she even hear that when their unit is on the 13th floor of a high-rise building?” he said.
On Oct. 1, a few hours before her death, Ronel said Mary Jean asked him if she could use the money she had earned to buy a plane ticket home.
Ronel said his mother only agreed to work abroad because she was promised by her employer that she would work as a family driver.
But Mary Jean never got to work as a driver and was forced instead to do household chores daily from 5 a.m. to 3 a.m.