Saleh Al-Turaiqi Okaz newspaper THE horrific crime wherein a housemaid allegedly decapitated the daughter of her employer with a cleaver occurred in Yanbu recently. Tala, 4, was found murdered on her bed.When the child's mother, a teacher, had returned from work, she could not enter the house as the maid had locked it from inside. She was then forced to call the Civil Defense. When the door was opened, she found the decapitated body of her daughter. Preliminary investigations indicated that the Asian housemaid had committed the crime.This horrific incident forces us to take a second look at an issue that has been debated about a lot. At that time our views were suppressed by someone asking: “Does our discussion end only with the prospect of Saudi women working as housemaids or does it end with the thought of your sister working as a housemaid?"And that had put the dialogue to an abrupt end.The Yanbu crime, which opened up the issue of Saudis working as housemaids again, tells us that the housemaid – if she is the culprit – may have some criminal background. We do not know anything about her.Even though the Ministry of Labor forces workers to bring with them a certificate of clearance that shows they do not have criminal records, corruption in those poor labor-exporting countries helps them obtain such certificates easily.The other possibility is that the housemaid was suffering from depression for a long time without it being addressed by her employers, and that might have led to psychological disorders and eventually mental illness. Usually, such a condition leads a person to commit murder, suicide or both. With the combination of criminal background and depression comes the outcome — murder.The child has the right to be protected. Here, the protection does not fall on the shoulders of the family alone, even government institutions are responsible.As for the family, it is required to protect its members while institutions are required to protect the entire society. What have we done to protect our children who are paying the price?What is preventing us from allowing Saudi women to work in this field, especially poor women who do not have certificates that qualify them to take up jobs other than begging on the streets or becoming a burden on society?Likewise, it is possible for a Saudi family to find out whether the Saudi domestic worker has a criminal background or not before signing a work contract with her. To my knowledge, it is not possible to manipulate a certificate of clearance with regard to any criminal records check.Think it over for the sake of our children, who are paying the price for crimes they had not committed.— [email protected] ;
