Abused Indonesian Maid Gets Paltry Compensation

Maha Akeel, Arab News

Nour Miyati JEDDAH, 21 May 2008 — A High Court judge in Riyadh, on Monday, awarded SR2,500 in compensation to Nour Miyati, an Indonesian maid whose toes and fingers were amputated following alleged abuse by her sponsor and his wife. Reviewing a previous ruling, the judge also dropped charges against the wife of Miyati’s sponsor, who had admitted abusing the maid, and overturned the 35 lashes she was sentenced to. Meanwhile, the sponsor was found innocent due to a lack of evidence. “According to the judge, there was not enough evidence,” said Nasser Al-Dandani, the lawyer appointed by the Indonesian Embassy to represent the maid. Miyati’s case came to light after her sponsor brought her to a Riyadh hospital in March 2005, afflicted by gangrene in her fingers, toes and a part of her right foot. She initially claimed her sponsor tied her up for a month in a bathroom and beat her severely, injuring her eyes and knocking out some of her teeth. However, investigators — who questioned her without the presence of Indonesian Embassy representatives, lawyers or members of the National Society for Human Rights — later claimed the maid had changed her testimony. Miyati was, subsequently, charged with making false accusations and imprisoned for a few days. She was then transferred to a shelter at Nahda Women’s Charity Society where, according to social worker Hind Al-Ismaili, she could not take proper care of herself because of her injuries. It was then that Al-Dandani secured her release from the shelter. Miyati’s case was delayed several times as her sponsor and his wife repeatedly failed to attend court hearings, prompting the Riyadh Principality to issue an order forcing them to come. According to sources, the sponsor adopted several tactics to disrupt the case, including a threat to file a SR1 million defamation suit against the maid. Further to this, in December 2005, a judge at the Court of Summation sentenced Miyati to 79 lashes for making false accusations against her sponsor and his wife — a ruling that was reversed in April 2006. Speaking about the ruling, Al-Dandani said, “The judge did not consider the injuries and amputations had been caused by the sponsor and his wife despite the medical report… He did not take into consideration that she had not been paid her salary for 18 months, that she was in good health when she came to work here and that when her toes and fingers turned gangrenous she was not taken to hospital early enough. “Even her broken teeth, her injured eye, which doesn’t function properly, and hearing loss were not considered proof of abuse.” Judges compensate injuries and lost limbs in car accidents and medical malpractice according to a standard value, he said, adding that according to some estimates, Miyati deserved at least SR400,000. “Although, we did not ask for a specific amount, we expected it to be fair,” said Al-Dandani. “The only thing the judge looked at was the report by a committee appointed by the court to evaluate compensations for accidents. This committee of four men did not once see Miyati or speak to her. I don’t know what they based their evaluation on and how the judge could accept that,” Al-Dandani added, saying that he will appeal the ruling at the Court of Cassations.