Prominent Saudi lawyer named for tortured maid

A prominent Saudi lawyer has been named for the case of an Indonesian housemaid who has been severely tortured by her Saudi female employer, the Arabic language daily 'Sharq' reported on Thursday.

Saud bin Awad Al Hujaili, a well-known Saudi solicitor and a member of the Arab Lawyers’ Union, said he would do his best to guarantee the rights of the 23-year-old maid who has been lying at the intensive care unit (ICU) at King Fahd General Hospital in the central town of Madina, the paper said.

“I will do my best within the framework of existing laws that guarantee the rights of all nationals and expatriates,” said the lawyer, who was appointed for the maid’s case by the Indonesian embassy in Saudi Arabia.

He said he would discuss the case with Indonesia’s Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Linda Amalia Sari, who was due in Riyadh Thursday.

In a statement this week, the Saudi Human Rights Commission denounced the torture of Sumiati Salan Mustapa and demanded punishment of the Saudi employer in accordance with Islamic law.

Doctors have performed an operation on the housemaid’s badly damaged scalp and said she requires several plastic surgeries once she is out of the ICU.

Saudi newspapers said this week the 53-year-old widow confessed to the crime after her son told police during interrogation that his mother tortured the maid.

The unnamed widow, who has been in police custody, was reported this week as saying she used a hot iron on the maid to cure her from a mental illness.

The widow herself has undergone psychiatric tests following the incident.

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