The Filipina maid in Saudi Arabia who claimed that she was raped several times by her employer admitted faking the rape charges to call the attention of Philippine embassy officials to her problem: unpaid salary.
This was disclosed by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday after receiving reports from the Philippine embassy in Riyadh that the maid admitted to faking the rape claims.
In an article posted on its website, the DFA said the maid admitted making up the rape charge after she was rescued from her employer's house last weekend.
A Saudi news outfit that interviewed the maid about her supposed ordeal last weekend ran a story on how the maid called the attention of local Filipino community leaders, who in turn contacted the media.
"She expressed gratitude to the Embassy for requesting the Saudi agency to get her from the residence of her employer, and apologized for causing such an alarm as her allegations are untrue," the DFA said, citing reports from the embassy.
News site Arab News added an unnamed official of the Philippine embassy in Saudi Arabia voiced concern over how the maid "lied for her own convenience" to garner sympathy, and get a transfer to another employer.
“The embassy is concerned that she lied for her own convenience. She spun tales as if she were telling the truth without regard for the consequences. We stopped working on other urgent cases just to accommodate her request to be rescued," said an embassy official in an article posted on news site Arab News .
“It was a weekend when she needed to be rescued. It was difficult because we could not secure the necessary permit from the governor's office to enter her sponsor's house in a private compound," said the official who was not named in the article.
The official the Filipino maid's action was unfair to other OFWs who have legitimate complaints that need immediate action.
The DFA said the maid has executed an affidavit, denying her rape claims.
"In light of this affair, the Embassy wishes to remind Filipinos to be more circumspect in matters such as this as such acts have serious consequences, including criminal liability ... The Embassy continues to exert its best efforts to assist those who are distressed," the Philippine Embassy said.
Text messages
Meanwhile, the news site Arab News, which interviewed the maid before she was rescued, said the maid sent a text message to a Filipino community leader on Thursday saying that she had been repeatedly raped by her employer.
The community leader forwarded the message to Arab News.
Arab News said that when its reporter interviewed the maid, she was sobbing and was talking in a barely audible voice as she claimed she had been raped five times by her employer since the start of Ramadan this year.
When asked to speak louder, she said she could not because she might be heard by her sponsor’s wife.
Arab News sent a text message to the embassy. Vice Consul Roussel Reyes said he sent an embassy team to find the house where the maid was working.
On Friday night, the maid repeatedly sent text messages to Arab News, begging that she be rescued because her sponsor was beating her up.
Arab News forwarded the message to chargé d'affaires Ezzedin Tago, who said they were trying to get her out.
Later in the night, Tago called Arab News to say that the maid was in the custody of Al-Najlain Agency, which had recruited her.
However, investigation later showed that the maid only faked the rape charges. – VVP, GMANews.TV
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