Saudi Gazette report YANBU — The Indonesian housemaid who was accused of murdering a four-year-old girl in Yanbu said during a court hearing on Tuesday that the devil was responsible for the crime. At Yanbu General Court, one of the three presiding judges asked the housemaid whether she killed Tala Al-Shehri or not. The maid replied: “Not me, the devil killed her.” The judge repeated the question three times, and the maid gave the same answer. The judge then asked: “Did you plan the murder?” The maid replied: “Yes, one week before.” The judge then addressed Tala's father, Khaled Al-Shehri, who asked for the woman to be sentenced to death. The housemaid was charged with decapitating the girl with a cleaver last September when her parents were away at work and her sisters at school. No motive for the killing has been mentioned, but the girl's father denies his family mistreated the woman. Only Tala's parents and translators attended the hearing. The lawyers hired by the Indonesian Embassy to defend the maid were not present. The case shocked Saudi Arabia and triggered a wave of sympathy with the family, especially as the father caused an accident in which two people were killed as he rushed home to help his distraught wife after she discovered the crime. Several women teachers used the tragedy to press the Education Ministry to help provide day care for their babies and young children. They said most teachers, including Tala's mother, were forced to leave their babies at home in the care of their maids and they were not comfortable with the situation.
