'I was in agony but my employers did nothing'

Al Ain: When she left her country five months ago the young woman expected to work here to support her parents, brothers and her young son, but her dreams were shattered as she was badly burned while preparing food for her sponsor's family.

Eyerusalem Birhanu Lema, a 20-year-old from Ethiopia, came to work here as a housemaid for a family in Al Ain. But two weeks after her arrival she was badly burned due to a gas leak while she was preparing Iftar for the family during Ramadan.

Eyerusalem's father had borrowed more than Dh10,000 to send her to work in the UAE.

Eyerusalem told Gulf News that when she started working for the family the housewife instructed her to stay in the kitchen and not to do any cleaning until her husband had gone to work.

"On the day of the accident I woke up early and I went to kitchen to wait for my boss to go to work. Everybody was still in bed as it was Ramadan and they usually woke up late," she said.

With tears in her eyes Eyerusalem said that she was asked by her sponsor's wife to prepare Iftar.

"The moment I lit a match for the cooker it exploded on me, burning my body. I tried to protect myself by covering my face with my long dress," she said.

Crying

"I started crying and screaming for help. I rushed to the hall seeking help. My sponsor and his wife woke up and they stood in front of me doing nothing," she said.

She said she asked them to help her while her body was burning but they just returned to the bedroom.

"At this point I ripped off my dress. I asked them for some water. The housewife brought a water bottle and she put it next to me on the floor. As my hands were burned I begged her to drop some water into my mouth as I was very thirsty," she said.

She added that her sponsor and his wife went back to their bedroom.

"After a while they took me to the housewife's mother's house then they took me to her sister's house then they took me to a nearby pharmacist who gave some ointment to treat my severe burns," she said.

Eyerusalem said after that they dropped her at the employment agency.

"They returned me asking for a replacement. The agency insisted they report the issue to the police but they refused," she said.

She added that later at night after suffering the whole day from her burns the agency informed the police who took her to the Al Jimi Hospital then after two days she was transferred to Tawam Hospital where she was treated for stayed for 45 days.

Eyerusalem underwent various skin grafts to transplant skin from her leg to her back.

Doctors said that Eyerusalem started suffering from psychological problems after the incident so she was sent to Khalifa Hospital in Abu Dhabi for treatment.

"I was treated well at Khalifa Hospital. They took care of me. I spent another 45 days there," she said.

She said her sponsor visited her once to tell her that they would cancel her visa and have her deported after she left the hospital.

Eyerusalem was sent to the labour agency to await deportation.

"I cannot go back home; my father borrowed money to send me here. I am poor and I need to work. I have to support my family and my child," she said.