By MANDEEP SINGH
Published: 3rd September 2006
A HOUSEMAID allegedly brutally assaulted by her Bahraini sponsor and his family will be discharged from the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) today. Thirty-year old Lateefa Beewi Maheen, from Trivandrum, India, will then be released into the charge of the Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS).
Her manpower agency in Bahrain also pledged to give her due two months’ wages and a ticket home.
Ms Maheen suffered severe internal injuries, which caused her to vomit blood several times a day when she was first admitted to the hospital on August 30.
By MANDEEP SINGH
Published: 3rd September 2006
A HOUSEMAID allegedly brutally assaulted by her Bahraini sponsor and his family will be discharged from the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) today. Thirty-year old Lateefa Beewi Maheen, from Trivandrum, India, will then be released into the charge of the Migrant Workers Protection Society (MWPS).
Her manpower agency in Bahrain also pledged to give her due two months’ wages and a ticket home.
Ms Maheen suffered severe internal injuries, which caused her to vomit blood several times a day when she was first admitted to the hospital on August 30.
Doctors also said she suffered from pain in the abdomen and her wrists.
“She is already fit to be discharged,” said her doctor, who did not want to be named.
“However, we have been told to wait for the officials of the Indian Embassy in Bahrain to give the go-ahead before we let her go.
“Ms Maheen is not vomiting blood any more and she has not had any fractures,” the doctor said.
He said that she was still in a state of shock and depression.
“There are some internal injuries as well but these will heal with time,” he said.
Al Fahad Manpower Agency Administrative Manager Jaffer Abdul Razzaq Ali, who visited Ms Maheen at the hospital to enquire about her condition, said he had been taken aback at the way she had been treated.
“This is not the way and I am shocked that someone should assault a lady,” he said.
He said Ms Maheen was brought to the agency office in Manama after 9pm on Tuesday by the sponsor from his Muharraq home.
“We were told she is not well and that we could take her back,” said Mr Ali.
“We kept her overnight at the office in the company of one of our female staff, but we realised she was in pain and said she had been assaulted.
“Early Wednesday morning, we took her to the hospital, where she vomited blood,” he told the GDN at the hospital.
He said since the housemaid arrived in Bahrain on July 11, the agency officials visited her many times to ask her whether she was happy.
“At no point did she say she was facing problems. Apparently the beatings started in the last few weeks.”
Mr Ali said he has received BD60 from the sponsor as her wages for 45 days. “We will give her that money as well as a one-way ticket home the moment she is ready to leave.”
He said if she so desired, they would try and find another house for her to work in.
“We will also try and get back for her the money (BD166) she paid the agency in India to come to Bahrain.”
Ms Maheen’s case is being followed up by community leaders, particularly K R Nair of the Surya Charitable and Cultural Association
The Indian Embassy also got involved and dispatched one of its officers to look up Ms Maheen.
An embassy official told the GDN they were following up the matter and are co-ordinating with the manpower agency as well as the hospital authorities.
“We will ensure justice for her,” said the official, adding that filing a medico-legal case was also an option and the embassy would consider it after talking with Ms Maheen.
MWPS action committee member Delrine Embuldeniya, who came to the hospital yesterday after she learnt of Ms Maheen’s discharge, said it would see to it that she got all her dues before she went back to India.
“We will also talk to Ms Maheen and try and see what exactly happened at the sponsor’s house,” she said.
Ms Maheen yesterday broke down when she said she was given only one meal a day and was asked to do all the cleaning, washing and cooking at the two-storey house for the sponsor, his wife and six children.
She said she does not want to get involved in any legal case.
“All I want is to get back to my husband and children,” she said.
© Gulf Daily News
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