Filtered By: Pinoyabroad
Pinoy Abroad

Kuwaiti meted death sentence for torture, killing OFW Villavende


The Kuwaiti employer of Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) Jeanalyn Villavende, who was tortured and killed, has been sentenced by a criminal court to death by hanging, according to Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Dodo Dulay.

In a post on social media late Wednesday evening, Dulay said the information was from the lawyer hired by the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait.

"According to the lawyer engaged by our Philippine Embassy in Kuwait, Fawziya Al Sabah, the Court's decision was fair and in accordance to the law and Sharia as the accused assaulted OFW Villavende for days, and imprisoned her in a room until her death."

Villavende who hailed from Norala, South Cotabato flew to Kuwait in July 2019 to work as domestic worker and was found dead five months after after she was tortured and killed by her employers.

The abuse of Villavende started as early as October last year, according to an unofficial translation of the report from Kuwait’s government that was brought out during a Senate labor, employment, and human resources development committee hearing by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola.

The body of the OFW was autopsied by the NBI in her hometown on January 10, shortly after her remains were returned to the Philippines.

In a message to reporters, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Villavende’s body had “clear indications of sexual abuse.”

“There were also old healed wounds indicating that Villavende had been battered weeks prior to the fateful incident,” he added.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) in January this year, approved a resolution imposing total deployment ban to Kuwait following her death that was partially lifted in February. -- BAP, GMA News

 

LOADING CONTENT