MADINA: The Investigation and Prosecution Bureau has now been tasked with handling the case of a tortured Indonesian housemaid and is interrogating the woman's sponsor, according to Maj. Gen. Awad Saeed Al-Sarhani, Director of Police in Madina. Muhammad Shadeed Al-Aaufi, Supervisor of the National Society for Human Rights in Madina, is also investigating the case. He said Prince Abdulaziz Bin Majed Bin Abdul Aziz, Emir of Madina, is personally following up on the case. A Saudi man here has testified that it was his mother who had severely tortured an Indonesian housemaid, according to a report Saturday. The case has received worldwide media coverage and the Indonesian authorities are currently preparing to take legal action against the perpetrators. The housemaid is 23-year-old Sumiati BT Salan Mustapa, who came to Saudi Arabia three months ago. She is currently in hospital recovering from severe burns all over her body. The mother has reportedly admitted her guilt and signed a confession, according to a report carried by Al-Watan newspaper. The son, Z.S., told police that his mother, who is in her early fifties, had tortured the young woman. He also said that his mother tried to deceive the police by saying Mustapa had tried to commit suicide. On the basis of her son's testimony the Investigation and Prosecution Bureau has arrested the woman, who is a widow. The source said the mother told the investigating officers that the maid was trying to kill herself and that she had prevented her from doing so. The mother had also claimed that the young woman had injuries to her face because she had fallen against the floor. The maid, however, testified that she was tortured by her employer. Linda Amalia, Indonesian Minister of Woman's Empowerment and Child Protection, has visited Mustapa at King Fahd Hospital in Madina. The story began to unfold when Mustapa, who had come to the Kingdom to work for SR800 per month, was taken to a private hospital in Madina on Nov. 1. Personnel there said her injuries were too severe for them to treat her and she was directed to King Fahd Hospital. She was “in a very serious condition,” said Miea Mirlina, who works at King Fahd Hospital. “Her body was burned on many places, both legs were almost motionless, some parts of her skin on her head were removed and strong marks of old wounds were on her body including skin loss on her lips and head, a fractured middle finger and a cut near an eye. Her body shows how badly she was treated.” Mustapa, who said she cannot understand Arabic or English, related that the mother and daughter of her sponsor treated her very badly, that the mother frequently beat her severely and burned her with a hot iron, Mirlina said. A physician from King Fahd Hospital said Mustapa “was wounded from head to toe when she was admitted. She was unconscious.” The maid will recover, the physician said, but it will take at least two weeks for her to heal and she will have to undergo plastic surgery. Mirlina told Saudi Gazette that Mustapa's condition, which was very bad when she was admitted, has improved and she is on the road to recovery. When she arrived, her hemoglobin count was 6, but it has improved to 10; 12 is normal, Mirlina said. A low hemoglobin count can be caused by a poor diet, blood loss or some diseases. Mustapa does not want to stay in the Kingdom and wants to return to Indonesia as soon as possible, Mirlina said.
