Baby Killer Maid

The infamous young Sri Lankan woman that was recruited, illegally as she was a minor, to come to the Sandbox as a maid and accidentally had a four-month old infant die while he was in her care, along with nine other children, may avoid the death penalty. My original post on Rizana Nafeek is here, and a subsequent post, here.

The father of the infant, "has expressed his desire to forgive the maid." However the mother has not. So, let's see. In a country where a woman is not allowed to decide for herself whether or not she requires medical treatment - but must allow a man to do so for her, where women are not allowed to drive - only men are allowed to drive here, and where a woman is not allowed to travel without her husband's permission, a woman is allowed to make a "legal" decision? No. You can't have it both ways. Either women, here, have rights or they do not. Giving the mother the opportunity to decide whether or not she will forgive the young maid should not be a part of the legal process, but then, courts here operate totally different to what is the norm in the States. Nafeek is either guilty or she is innocent. Whether the family chooses to forgive the young woman is a whole separate matter.

Do I think Rizana Nafeek is guilty of murder? No. Perhaps a lesser charge. Maybe. But I think there is plenty of guilt to go around and that the parents are just as guilty for leaving such a young woman in charge of ten children! And, the recruiting agency who illegally brought her to the Sandbox while she was a minor on a forged passport needs to accept some responsibility for this tragic accident as well. Whatever happened was clearly an accidentt - not murder!

In the meantime, this unfortunate young woman, Rizana Nafeek, has languished in jail for three years now. She was found guilty after signing a confession written in Arabic - which she could not read - and which was never translated for her. She was not even given the benefit of legal counsel during the initial proceedings or throughout her trial. Hopefully, the case will be resolved one way or another soon. There is a hearing scheduled for November 5th. May justice prevail... Rizana wrote a letter to her parents and said, "this would be her last Eid in the Kingdom since she would either be released and sent home or executed before Eid 2009." How very, very sad.