KUWAIT: The appeals court overruled a court of first instance ruling that sentenced a Kuwaiti woman to death after she was accused of killing her Filipina domestic helper, and instead sentenced her to 15 years in jail. The case had caused a rift in Kuwait-Philippines relations and prompted Philippines authorities to ban its labor from traveling to Kuwait.
The ruling came after the court determined that premeditation was not present in the case. The court meanwhile upheld the suspect's husband's four-year jail sentence, Al-Anbaa Arabic daily reported yesterday. The public prosecution had charged the suspect with premeditated murder, saying that she attacked the victim with an iron and a car key on various parts of her body, including the head and chest, with the intention of killing her. The suspect's motives were suspicions she had that the maid had a relationship with her husband, and carried out black magic to separate the married couple.
The suspect was also accused of forcing the victim to work for extended periods of time, causing her health to deteriorate. The prosecution also charged the two suspects of human trafficking, failure to fulfill their duties towards the victim, and forced her to work illegally, and refraining from taking her to hospital in fear that her injuries would expose their abuse, which ultimately led to her death. The wife was also charged with giving false information to health authorities when she lied to get a prescription medication to treat the maid at home, instead of taking the maid to see a doctor.