The police recently arrested a Saudi for torturing an Indonesian housemaid. He had been beating her, burning her on her back and hands, and depriving her of sleep and food for several days on end. The woman called to her neighbors for help and was rescued. This is not the first case involving the torturing and mistreatment of domestic workers, something that drives them at times to commit suicide or to run away. This long and bloody reality soap continues. It takes place in homes behind closed doors where the chances for uncovering such violations are minimal. The head of the family or the wife is the one who is usually in control. It is here that the human conscience and nothing else is tested. There are no surveillance cameras, policemen or government laws. Only ethics and religious conscience, which is directly linked to fearing Allah, can prevent this. But sometimes this conscience is lacking and so we find people who deprive their housemaids of food and wages. In many cases, domestic workers are beaten and deprived of rest, sleep and appreciation. They are deprived of the most basic human right - dignity. Only a few cases come to the fore, like the case of the housemaid in Najran who was subjected to inhuman physical torture. It is strange that it is often the housemaids who are held responsible for being mistreated. They say housemaids come to the Kingdom to escape poverty and earn money. Torturing domestic workers is not unique to Saudi Arabia. It also takes place in other Arab countries, which are supposed to operate according to Islamic teachings of compassion and kindness. However, housemaids are not angels and I know how families suffer when their maids steal, mistreat children and behave violently. This confirms that they are not angels. Like all human beings, they have the potential to be good or bad. Do we not have a role to play in bringing out the best in them by treating them well?