Kuwait: Kuwait’s Court of Appeals has rejected an acquittal verdict by a lower court and sentenced a Kuwaiti doctor to four years in jail for causing her domestic helper to lose her left eye sight.
The court also sentenced the doctor, 55, to pay a KD5,001 fine to her Malagasy helper whom she beat for four years.
According to the case documents, the defendant tormented her helper almost on a daily basis.
She was reportedly no stranger to controversy and had to face legal charges in 2007 over her ill treatment of another helper.
When the defendant brought in new helpers, she moved her Malagasy helper to her sister’s house. However, the sister’s daughter, appalled by what had happened, assisted the helper to flee their house and to go to the police.
Trial
A case was launched and eventually the doctor was put on trial in November.
The helper’s lawyer, Mohammad Dashti, said that the law in Kuwait banned all forms of slavery and called for the highest punitive measures against the defendant.
He said that the helper had left Madagascar to avoid poor living conditions and moved to Kuwait in search of a better life. However, she never thought she would be tormented and would lose one eye.
However, the court acquitted the defendant, prompting the lawyer to appeal the case.
On Wednesday, the lawyer insisted on a verdict that would be fair and just and the court responded by sentencing the doctor to four years in jail.
