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Lankan maid gets justice
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A Lebanese court in Jbeil issued a rare verdict yesterday, jailing and fining a Lebanese woman for repeatedly beating a Sri Lankan woman she employed as a domestic worker.
Criminal Court Judge Jean Tannous sentenced the woman, identified as J.E.S., to one month’s imprisonment and ordered her to pay LL10 million in compensation to her former employee.
In an even rarer judgment, Tannous barred the Lebanese woman from hiring or acting as the sponsor of a migrant domestic worker for five years. The woman, who was sentenced in absentia, was also ordered to pay all legal costs incurred in the trial. She has 15 days to appeal the ruling.
The Sri Lankan woman arrived in Lebanon in December 2004 and was said to have endured regular beatings at the hands of her woman employer until she ran away in 2007. She sought refuge with her embassy, which referred her case to the non-governmental organization Caritas. The organization provided her with shelter and legal services before she returned home in May 2007.
“It’s clear based on the … evidence that the plaintiff was hurt repeatedly over a long period of time,” said the court ruling, a copy of which was obtained by The Daily Star.
“This is also according to the forensic doctor Naji Saibi and based on photographic evidence … the defendant intentionally beat and hurt the plaintiff.” The Lebanese denied beating her employee but said that she would stay alone with her when her husband went to work and forbade her from leaving the house.
Dima Haddad, a senior social worker at Caritas, hailed the verdict as a welcome move that could pave the way for further prosecutions. “This judgment is a good initiative and a step forward for vulnerable people,” she said, adding that judges were becoming increasingly aware of the plight of domestic workers and treating the issue “more humanely.” (The Daily Star)
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