http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article494488.ece
Home / Saudi Arabia / Indonesian autopsy reveals violence killed maid in Hail By GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN | ARAB NEWS Published: Aug 28, 2011 00:05 Updated: Aug 28, 2011 00:05 RIYADH: The case of an Indonesian housemaid allegedly killed by her employers in the northwestern Saudi city of Hail took a fresh twist on Saturday after the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh rejected a Saudi hospital's autopsy report into her death. The embassy said it would send its own report to the Saudi Foreign Ministry after a leading hospital in Indonesia carried out an autopsy that revealed the maid, identified as Ernawati, died of injuries caused by blunt force, abuse and trauma. Embassy spokesman Hendrar Pramutyo said the autopsy results contradict a previous examination by the Saudi government, which the Saudi Foreign Ministry has always referred to in explaining the cause of Ernawati’s death. He said Ernawati sustained injuries from physical abuse at the hands of her employer in Hail. There were bruises on her face, chest, arms and knees because of injuries caused by a blunt object, said a report obtained by Arab News. There was also swelling, bleeding in the lungs, and bruises on the chest that was the result of violence by a blunt object, causing bleeding in lung tissue that led to her death. Ernawati died on Feb. 10 this year, several days after her elder sister Yenni Larasati filed a report with the Foreign Ministry in Jakarta alleging that her sibling was being physically abused by both her employer and his lover. Larasati said Ernawati was forced to kneel while her employer often slapped, punched, kicked, threw things at her or whipped her with a hose. But the first autopsy performed in Saudi Arabia determined that she died after consuming rat poison. Meanwhile, Pramutyo also denied the reports that the Saudi and Indonesian governments have agreed to lift the ban on recruitment of Indonesian women workers. He said that he had sought an answer from Jakarta about the authenticity of the news. He, however, pointed out that there had been substantial progress in talks since the visit of a presidential task force to the Kingdom last month. According to the latest available figures, there are still about 1,719 Indonesian workers, mainly maids, stranded in jails across the Kingdom. The moratorium on workers came into force on Aug. 1 after a spate of cases of alleged violence against Indonesian workers were reported, including the execution of a maid who had been convicted of killing her employer. Pramutyo said several steps had been taken by the Indonesian government to address the grievances of workers abroad. The government is going online in a bid to improve the recruitment system for migrant workers, he added. The National Board for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas Workers (BNP2TKI) will use an online system to prevent the manipulation of workers’ data. Jakarta is also strengthening networks and expanding online access in several regions. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
