Manama: The domestic helper who severed the head of Tala, a four-year-old girl, had been with the victim’s family for seven years and had an excellent reputation.
“Her behaviour and attitudes were highly satisfactory and both guests and neighbours often praised her,” a relative of the victim said. “She was supposed to fly home next week,” the relative, a nephew, said, quoted by local news site Sabq on Friday. The helper is reportedly from an Asian country.
Police and reports said that the drama unfolded on Wednesday at about 1.30pm when a Saudi teacher returned home with her daughters from school in Yanbu, a major Red Sea city.
However, they could not open the locked door of her house, and when the mother requested the helper to let them in, she refused and threatened to kill the youngest daughter, who was in her care inside the house.
The frightened mother promptly called her husband at work to tell him about the dramatic situation and he telephoned the civil defence, urging them to take action before the domestic helper could carry out her threat.
The father, hurriedly making his way home, had an accident in which one man was killed and his daughter was seriously injured and had to be rushed to the intensive care unit at the local hospital. The beleaguered father was seriously injured and was treated in hospital.
Meanwhile at his house, civil defence servicemen forced their way inside and according to the relative’s account, they found the helper sitting next to a television set that was turned on.
The eldest daughter, Yara, a high-school student, stormed into the master bedroom where she found her young sister in a pool of blood and her head severed. Yara lost consciousness and had to be taken to hospital for treatment. Earlier reports said that the mother had to be rushed to hospital after she fainted.
According to Al Madinah daily, the helper became furious after she received a message on her mobile on the day of the tragedy and tried to commit suicide, but was rescued after defence servicemen stormed the house.
The nephew added that the only positive outcome in the tragedy was the decision of the family of the man killed in the collision with the father to pardon him and to forfeit blood money.
“We went to their house to offer our condolences on the sad death. His family said that they sympathised with us over the tragedy that struck us and that they forgave my uncle,” the nephew said.
The girl’s family said that they were also grateful to Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Majed, the Governor of Al Madinah, for his decision to allow the burial of the young girl on Friday without waiting for the end of the investigations.
“His decision is highly appreciated and the parents are truly grateful,” he said.
The Muslim tradition is to bury the dead without delays.
