Q8NRI.com

KUWAIT: The Criminal Court sentenced a Kuwaiti couple to death yesterday after they were convicted of first degree murder in killing their Filipina housemaid. “This sentence is a testimony of justice and comes in line with all religious canons which call for punishment of murder for criminals”, said the victim’s lawyer Fawziya Al-Sabah in her first public statement following the court’s ruling yesterday.

In-mid July 2010, Asria Samad Abdul, then 34-year-old, was tortured by her employers on a daily basis before being run over several times with a car to death in Kabd area. The couple confessed the murder. [Murderers] confessed they maltreated the maid on a daily basis and when the they feared that the housemaid would die, they took her in their car to the stables area and crushed her to death under their vehicle to give an impression that she was run over by a motorist. Kuwaiti police found out that the couple had earlier maltreated several other housemaids.

Attorney Al-Sabah said she would demand for a “large financial compensation to the victim’s children who became orphaned as a result of this misfortune”. “The victim came to Kuwait looking for a better living, but her fate led her to two criminals who murdered her and disposed her body in the desert for no error she committed”, Al-Sabah said. She stressed she will continue representing the victim’s children in the case until they obtain the compensation she is demanding for. The couple has the right to appeal the sentence.

When contacted for comment about the verdict, Rea Oreta, Philippine Vice Consul to Kuwait said in a text message: “We were confident on the impartiality of Kuwaiti justice system and the capability of Sheikha Fawzia Al-Sabah to uphold justice for the late Asria Abdul,” she commented adding that she hope that the case [of Asria] would further strengthen the resolve of Filipino Overseas Workers [OFW’s] to fight for their rights.

-–Ahmed Jabr helped for the translation
By Ben Garcia, Staff Writer
Kuwait Times