SAUDI ARABIA: HOUSEMAID GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR KILLING GIRL

December 11, 2016: A court in Jeddah sentenced a housemaid to death for murdering the daughter of her employer and wounding another before trying to kill herself.
A sister of the victim, aged only six years old, testified in court that she saw the maid stabbing her sibling several times until she died.
“My sister and I were in the kitchen with the housemaid. She was preparing food for us. We were telling her to hurry up which infuriated her. She took out a knife from the kitchen drawer and stabbed me in the back. My sister and I ran to another room trying to escape from her,” said the victim’s sister.
She added the maid chased them around the house and stabbed her sister multiple times.
“The housemaid stabbed my sister in the neck and stomach. I hid from her and watched her stab herself even,” said the victim’s sister.
The housemaid confessed to her crime and gave her account of the incident.
“I was preparing the food in the kitchen when the two girls walked in. One of the sisters yelled at me to hurry up. So I gave her a piece of candy to calm her down. But the girl continued yelling at me, so I grabbed a knife and stabbed her,” said the housemaid.
She said the girls ran away from the kitchen and she chased them.
“I stabbed the other sister in her back and stomach and I fainted after that,” said the housemaid.
The Criminal Court sentenced the housemaid to death for murdering a child by stabbing her several times, stabbing her sister and then trying to commit suicide by stabbing herself.
The housemaid has 30 days to appeal the death sentence. (Sources: saudigazette.com.sa, 11/12/2016)