MADINA: The Saudi woman accused of inflicting grievous bodily harm on her Indonesian housemaid in Madina has demanded her release on bail from prison because she suffers from a psychiatric disorder, sources have said. She also said she was detained prior to the completion of the waiting period following her husband's death, known in Islamic Shariah as Iddah, the sources have told Okaz/Saudi Gazette. During the Iddah period of four months and ten days, a Muslim woman is not allowed to leave her house. Despite her demand, authorities have decided to leave the 54-year-old Saudi woman, only identified as Z.F., behind bars until the case is over. Abdul Rahman Al-Muhammadi, the lawyer representing Sumiati Mustapa, 24, told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that the final report by the Forensic Medicine Administration has been issued and it is being included in the case dossier. The Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution (BIP) is studying the case file and completing legal procedures in preparation for referring it to the General Court in the coming few days, he added. Regarding the defendant's right to be released from prison because of her psychiatric condition, Al-Muhammadi said, “This matter will be determined by the final report on her psychological state, which is supposed to have been issued.” Addressing the defendant's demand to be released from prison under guarantee because she was detained three days before the end of her Iddah, he said the incident is an aggression against another person and it must be dealt with according to the law. “Therefore, she was detained pending investigations,” he said. As to the possibility of reaching an out-of-court settlement between the housemaid and her detained female sponsor, Al-Muhammadi said the case has already taken its legal course. “The prosecution is forging ahead in its demand for the aggrieved housemaid's private right and the case sheet will be prepared in this regard,” he said. “In this sheet, the authorities concerned will impose the procedures related to the public right.” Al-Muhammadi said the Indonesian embassy has assigned two translators, a man and a woman, to the matter and a woman to accompany the housemaid. The housemaid's family has informed Indonesian officials that it has given its consent for dental surgery for Mustapa, Al-Muhammadi said, after its approval that she undergo plastic surgery.
