Dubai: According to a Saudi newspaper, Okaz, a court in Madinah sentenced a Saudi woman to three years in prison for abusing her Indonesian housemaid.
The case of Sumiati Mustafa, 23, received worldwide attention after she was admitted to hospital last year with broken bones and burns to her face and body. The Saudi woman is accused of stabbing, beating and burning her with an iron.
The Saudi women still insisted during her trial that she was not guilty and had nothing to do with the wounds inflicted on her maid.
The defendant was indicted under the newly anti-human trafficking law, which is a public right. The private right demanded by the housemaid’s lawyer will be determined at a later hearing, but the Indonesian consulate lawyer, Abdul Rahman Al Muhammadi said to Al Watan newspaper that he will appeal the ruling, pressing for a tougher punishment.
Mustafa was present at the hearing, along with the Saudi woman, the Indonesian consul, the prosecution representative, the two defense lawyers, and an Indonesian housemaid – who had worked for the woman’s daughter and is a witness to Mustafa’s abuse – in addition to three Indonesian translators.
The prosecution’s representative, Abdul Rahman Al Muhammadi, also spoke with Okaz saying that the evidence was sufficient to prove the physical and psychological damages suffered by the housemaid at the home of the defendant, so the prosecution will now push for compensation for their client.
Sumiati has undergone a number of surgeries, and according to the Indonesian consulate, still needs further operations.
