JEDDAH — The Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution (BIP) has completed its investigations into an Ethiopian maid accused of murdering her sponsor and attempting to murder his son. Bureau sources told Al-Yaum newspaper that the maid confessed to the crime. She justified her crime by saying the continuous reading of the Qur'an by family members caused her great discomfort even though they had treated her well. The woman comes from an Ethiopian tribe that had embraced Judaism. The child who survived the attack said that he and his brother were in their room when they heard a commotion. They were confronted by the maid exiting their father's room with blood on her hands. His brother managed to escape, but he could not. She then dragged him and showed him his father's body. When he asked her why, she began assaulting him with an iron and a knife. He ran away and tried to escape down the stairs. He fell off the stairs and tried to crawl outside the house. She grabbed him again and assaulted him but in the process lost her balance and fell down. He quickly rushed to the roof of the house and jumped to the adjoining roof of his uncle's house. The uncle said his brother was recovering from a liver operation, and the family was treating the maid well. This incident and a series of such cases lately have revived a public debate on the role of foreign maids inside households. Human rights bodies have called upon the courts to expedite the judicial process and sentencing of the maid. The delay of sentencing the maid or applying deterrent penalties will only increase in such cases, they say. Meanwhile, the Yanbu branch of BIP has sent an Ethiopian maid, accused of attempted murder, to court for sentencing. The 28-year-old maid worked for a family in Yanbu, and is charged with attempt to murder a girl in the family. The girl's mother intervened when she heard her daughter screaming, and the maid tried to kill her too, causing her physical harm. Their combined screams alerted the attentions of a neighbor who overpowered the maid and stopped further injury. The mother and daughter were taken to a local hospital where they underwent multiple operations. The family is demanding the maximum penalty.
