Interesting News

So I occasionally read The Arab Times newspaper bc it just oozes of this mysterious culture that fascinates me. And I thought I would post copies of some short news reports of things that happen, that are not necessarily the norm in the West. I mean, rapes, adultery, alcohol use is common in the West, but we react to it differently.

Some Excerpts from 'The Arab Times:'


KUWAIT CITY, Oct 29:
Asian Woman Raped In Front Of Physically Handicapped Daughter
The Farwaniya police men have arrested an unidentified man for raping an Asian woman in front of her physically handicapped daughter, reports Al-Rai daily.
According to a security source the victim in her complaint to the Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh police said the culprit claimed to be a military man working for the Interior Ministry and he stripped her naked and raped her in front of her daughter and also robbed KD 350 and three cell phones.
Police managed to nab the suspect in a short time and police investigations show the man works at the Kuwait International Airport and that he is not a military man.
The woman also said she had a relationship with the man earlier and when she cut that relationship he broke into her apartment and raped her.

Baby’s mother sought: Police are looking for an Asian woman for giving birth to an illegitimate baby boy, reports Al-Rai daily.
According to security sources the woman went to the Jahra Hospital when she got into labor pain and she delivered a baby boy.
Hours after giving birth to the baby, the infant’s cries alerted the hospital staff who realized the mother had escaped leaving the baby behind.

Maid burns herself to death : An Asian housemaid burnt herself to death in her sponsor’s house in Thaher area on Thursday. Her remains have been referred to Forensics and police are trying to find out why she committed suicide.
Sources say the sponsor and his son suffered minor injuries while trying to put out the fire.

 Woman Among Three Chinese Held For Selling Pork & Alcohol.
75 Cartons Of Foreign Liquor, 20 Boxes Of Meat Seized
Personnel from the Mubarak Al-Kabir Investigation Department Thursday have arrested three Chinese - one of them a woman — for possessing and selling pork and liquor, reports Al-Watan Arabic daily.
According to reports the liquor and pork was smuggled into the country in containers carrying other material. Acting on information police raided the men’s apartment in Salwa and seized 75 cartons of foreign liquor and 20 boxes of all types of frozen pig meat.
The Interior Ministry sources said police acting on a tip-off that a Chinese woman was selling liquor, CID men put the woman under surveillance and once the department was convinced the woman was bootlegging, a police agent was sent to buy a bottle of liquor and she was caught red-handed.
During interrogation she admitted to the charge and led police to her apartment in Salwa where the contraband was seized.
She told interrogators pork was imported from her country in a container and the product did not get the attention of the customs officers because the labels on the product are in Chinese.
She also gave the police details of two male compatriots who helped her to sell the meat.
The meat and the suspects have been referred to the authorities.

Kuwaiti Husband Beats Wife For Refusing ‘Sip’
KUWAIT CITY, Aug 3: A case has been filed against a Kuwaiti man at the Al-Naeem Police Station in Jahra for beating his wife because she refused to drink alcohol with him, reports Al-Rai daily.

According to reports the husband came home drunk after visiting a friend carrying with him a bottle of foreign booze. Not satisfied, he wanted to drink more and invited his wife to share a drink with him.
When the wife refused the man lost his temper and began verbally abusing his wife. When he began to beat her, she ran to a neighbor’s house and called her brothers.

The brothers rushed to her rescue, took her to the Jahra Hospital and got a medical report showing injuries on her body and then filed a complaint with the police station.

Light Shed On Domestic Worker Issues
GUST Welcomes Researcher In HRW
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 27: On Oct 25, 2010 Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) welcomed Ms Priyanka Motaparthy, a researcher in the Human Rights Watch organization to shed light on the importance of domestic workers rights in Kuwait and the Middle East. 

Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an organization that monitors human rights in all aspects of life worldwide. They have offices in over 90 countries worldwide and are funded by private individuals and companies for its research and applications.

In this particular lecture, Ms Motaparthy explained that she works in both the Women and Middle East HRW divisions and her latest project has been that of women domestic workers leaving their homes in the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and other countries to places in the Middle East such as Kuwait. Domestic work at HRW is categorized as “vulnerable work” where people who work in this area have the least amount of pay and are more susceptible to human rights violations. In Kuwait alone, they represent a 1/3 of the workforce.

The HRW recently launched a campaign in Lebanon and now in Kuwait titled “Put yourself in her shoes.” The campaign focuses on some of the issues that domestic workers face. At first glance, you notice that there are women dressed as workers but with jewelry and style and then you realize that those women represent employers and asking them to put themselves in the workers shoes.

GUST as a prominent institution in the country tries to stay aware of the issues being discussed in the nation. This matter is amongst one of the most debated this year. It has been said that domestic workers are suffering from delay in payments of their salaries, are sometimes denied food or verbally and physically abused for not doing a good enough job. They are locked up in their rooms or not allowed to have a day off in case they might stray or make friends or have relations. “This is not to say that all domestic workers are treated like that, there are some which are acknowledged who are treated well and are happy where they are working, but this campaign we have been working on is directed for the workers who weren’t as lucky,” Ms Motaparthy explains. And students vouched for that indicating that in their own homes, they base their relationships with domestic workers with respect.