This was originally published at Migrant Rights.
On April 10th, Kuwait’s Arab Times reported about the rape and kidnapping of an unnamed Indonesian maid by a police officer. This report is an appalling example of the regional papers’ disregard to migrant and women’s rights.
Kuwaiti press in general (except for Ben Garcia, a staff reporter at the Kuwait Times) is quite insensitive in its reporting about human rights violations of migrant workers. For example, Kuwaiti papers very rarely report the names of migrants who commit suicide, printing a couple lines about another poor worker who took his or her last breath, sometime hinting at mental illness as the cause of suicide. Migrant workers are more likely to appear in Kuwaiti press in reports about theft and alcohol consumption than in reports that detail abuse and maltreatment that many workers endure on a daily basis in Kuwait.
This report, which calls kidnapping and rape as having “fun” with a maid, details in a bemused tone about police corruption, abuse of power and cover up.
Below is the report:
Tale of a maid: In a strange tale of twists and turns, a policeman reportedly arrested an absconding Indonesian housemaid, took her to his apartment, had ‘fun’ with her and then set her free, reports Al-Rai daily.
The maid, however, was extremely surprised when an Arab man knocked her door and asked her to file a complaint against the policeman.
The Arab accompanied the maid to the police station where the maid once again received a great shock when the attending police officer directly called the first policeman.
The policeman then allegedly gave the maid some money and a mobile phone and asked her to withdraw the complaint. The maid accepted the offer and was set free again.
Incidentally, the maid was detained at a checkpoint and she narrated her bizarre story to policemen. Securitymen conducted intensive investigations, arrested the policeman and referred him to Criminal Investigations Department.
Now, the question is: How did the Arab man come to know what transpired at the policeman’s apartment and how did he get the address of the Indonesian? And who sent him?
We urge you to contact the Arab Times using these e-mails and protest this disgusting report: jarallah@arabtimesonline.com and arabtimes@arabtimesonline.com.