AN overseas Filipino worker was arrested by Kuwaiti authorities for allegedly stabbing her employer, a Philippine Embassy official in Kuwait said yesterday.
Initial information obtained by the embassy showed that OFW Ulambai Singgayan was reportedly beaten after her employer “threatened to have her visa revoked and move her to another house where she would be killed.”
Chargé d’Affaires Charleson Hermosura said the Filipina worker had visible bruises on her face, chest, and arms, adding that an X-ray conducted in the hospital also showed internal bleeding in her abdomen.
Hermosura, however, said it was not immediately clear if Singgayan had been maltreated by her employer prior to the stabbing incident.
He said Singgayan was deployed to Kuwait as a household service worker in February 2017. The OFW is reportedly facing felony charges and is currently under hospital arrest.
The incident came nearly three months after the Philippines and Kuwait signed a new labor pact that would provide better protection and working conditions to Filipino domestic helpers working in the Middle East country.
The signing of the agreement was an offshoot of the diplomatic faux pas triggered by the circulation of a video showing Philippine Embassy and Department of Foreign Affairs officials rescuing allegedly maltreated Filipino domestic helpers from the households of their employers in Kuwait. (Roy C. Mabasa)