JEDDAH — People of a north Jeddah neighborhood witnessed dramatic scenes last Tuesday after they spotted a barefoot Asian domestic helper crying and shivering with fear in the street. People soon gathered around the woman, who was dressed in a shabby uniform. She had escaped from the house of her employer in Al-Safa district alleging maltreatment. The woman said her employer was a violent person and she wanted to go back to her country. She spoke only broken Arabic, and people who gathered around her could not make much out of what she was saying because of the language barrier. Soon the Saudi employer arrived at the scene in his car and the housemaid started crying again. Angry at her escape, the man charged at the woman, who was hiding behind the crowd. The bystanders managed to prevent him from attacking her. The man continued to shout at her. He said he could not understand why she fled his home and embarrassed him by creating such a scene. The woman insisted that she did not want to return to her employer's house and pleaded for help. The man then forced his way through the crowd, grabbed her hand and dragged her into the back of his car, and then drove away before police arrived at the scene.
