Report: ‘Tortured’ Pinay maid ‘rescued’ from employers in UAE

A 28-year-old Filipina worker in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was “rescued” after allegedly being assaulted by her Egyptian employers, a UEA-based news site reported.

Philippine Consul-General Benito Valeriano instructed the Labor Attache to investigate the alleged assault on Renelyn Balba Boco.

News site Khaleej Times on Thursday reported that Boco escaped from her employers and sought the help of their neighbor on the fifth floor of the building at 10 a.m. last October 23.

Her face, chest, back and ears bore bruises and cuts, the report said.

The neighbors, who was not identified in the police complaint, called 999 when they saw the physical condition of Boco and reported the abuse.

Valeriano ordered a thorough investigation after the Bur Dubai Police informed the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) Monday afternoon that the employers made a counter-charge against Boco.

The Khaleej Times report said Dubai Police confirmed they received the maid’s complaint on October 23, after which they rushed to her sponsor’s house and took him to the Bur Dubai police station.

The Egyptian sponsor and wife were referred to the Dubai Public Prosecution and released on bail.

‘Treated like an animal’

“A few minutes before the Bur Dubai police arrived, my employers came back to the house but I refused to go back to their flat. My sponsor tried to convince me to return to their flat but I refused. Then the police and the ambulance arrived and took me to Rashid Hospital,” Boco was quoted as saying in the report.

Boco, who said she had been working without salary for six months, alleged that she had been “treated like an animal.”

She said at times, her lady employer would force her to eat biscuits lying on the floor and lick the woman’s shoes clean.

An ambulance staff rang the Welfare Office at the Philippine Consulate and reported the condition of Boco who was at the hospital.

Welfare Officer Mary Cyd Cimangan took her from the hospital to the Bur Dubai police station to lodge 
her complaint.

Labor Attache Amilbahar Amilhassan, citing Boco’s complaint, said her sponsor’s wife forced her to eat sand mixed with fertilizers from the planter boxes twice, sleep in the toilet, cut her hair short to make her look like a man and hit her.

“My sponsor would also beat me with his belt, slippers and shoes. My madam will ride on my back while twisting my arm and hitting my head with any object,” Boco said. “I have lumps in both my breasts. My employer only gave me a slice of bread and noodles as a meal during the day. I worked without salary for six months,” she alleged.

During police interrogation, the Egyptian man and his wife confessed they had beaten up the maid but claimed Boco beat up and hurt their children.

They denied allegations that they tortured, abused and maltreated her, and that they did not pay her salary. They said the maid was telling lies.

Police said the maid had presented a medical report, which showed that she had been beaten up, but the husband and wife had also lodged a complaint against the maid and presented a medical report that she had beaten up the children.

British national Liza Kingsley, benefactor of the Filipino Workers Resource Center where Boco is now staying, told Amilhassan she would provide free legal services to Boco. — RSJ, GMANews.TV