OFW Pinay in Kuwait raped, left for dead with stab on her neck gets back home to PH

A Filipina overseas worker in Kuwait who was raped, stabbed in the neck, and left for dead in a desert by a policeman, returned to the Philippines this Sunday, after achieving justice within 8 years of fighting in her case.

She considered it as an early Christmas present, when the Kuwaiti court convicted the Kuwaiti police who raped her.

Maging matatag lang at manalangin hindi naman tayo pababayaan ng Panginoon, huwag lang natin siyang kalimutan kasi lahat ng dumarating sa buhay natin may magandang kinabukasan din yan… 8 years binigyan pa ako ng lakas na kayang harapin ang pagsubok na dumating sa buhay ko,

she said in an interview.

She was 35-year-old native of T’Boli, South Cotabato, single-parent and with one child. She was among of more than 300 OFWs who returned home last November 29 using Kuwaiti Airways chartered flight.

Photo credit: today.com

She flew to Kuwait on September 12, 2006 to work as a household service worker for three years, and later on at a dress shop in Farwaniya.

  

Based on her account, in the late evening of September 30, she and her female friend came out from a mall along the Sixth Ring road. They were inside a taxi on their way home to Farwaniya when they were stopped by a policeman.

Unfortunately, her residence visa just expired four days earlier and was still being renewed by her new sponsor. The policeman let her friend, who had a valid visa go, while she was taken by the suspect to a police car.

Instead of taking her to the police station, he drove her to a dark deserted place in South Surra where he raped her inside the police patrol car and stabbed her with a Swiss knife on the neck and back, leaving her almost dead. She managed to crawl by the roadside where a passing car found her and took her to the Mubarak Al Kabeer Hospital.

In June 2014, the Kuwait Court of First Instance sentenced the policeman to death after being found guilty of a crime but sentenced him to life imprisonment after his lawyer appealed.

In the last meeting between her and her Kuwaiti human rights lawyer Sheikha Fawzia, who volunteered to be her legal counsel pro bono was emotional.

I wish you [a] good life, forget what had happened before. I wish you peace of mind and happiness,

said Fawzia. 

Everything Khalas, it's [a] dream then you start a new life. Khalas… Now you start again,

Fawzia added. 

She sincerely thanked her human rights lawyer.

Thanks for everything, for helping me. Dahil ikaw ang humawak ng kaso, ako’y nagpapasalamat ako ng marami. Tinapos mo ang kaso ko, nilaban mo,

she said. 

For 8 years while her case was being heard, the POLO-OWWA and the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait became her home. She was sent off at the airport by the Philippine embassy team. Now, she looks forward on spending Christmas with her 14-year old son and family in the Philippines.