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'I hope they rot in jail'
KUWAIT CITY: "They should be punished and I want them to rot in jail. Even their life is not enough to pay for what they've done to me," blurted Ana (not her real name), the Filipina domestic helper who was allegedly abducted and raped by 15 young men on Dec 14 in a desert camp.
Talking to the Arab Times on Tuesday, Ana who was clad in abaya and wearing a brown hijab, talked softly with her fierce eyes as she narrated every detail of her horrifying experience at the hands of the suspects. Ana, 19, who hails from a town in Southern Mindanao in the Philippines, arrived in Kuwait in September 2005. She is the eleventh in a family of 13.
"On that night, I decided to leave my employer because her seven-year old child and my madam always hit me on my back and I couldn't take it any longer, but I didn't know that by escaping from that ordeal, something worse would happen to me," she pointed out. Ana, who walked away from her employer's residence waited for a taxi to pass by to no avail, hence, she decided to go back to her employer's house.
"On my way back to the house, a huge vehicle stopped in front of me and three young men alighted from the car and abducted me. I tried to cry for help but no one heard me and they were too strong," she recounted. The three men allegedly raped her inside the car and when they were through with her, they called two of their friends who also took turns in raping her. She added that they called again four of their friends who took her to a tent in an undisclosed desert camp where they also raped her. Then another two took her to another tent where she was also raped. Finally, four brought her to another tent and also took turns in raping her. brought her to the Filipino Workers Resource Center. "I wasn't able to sit down for days due to the excruciating pain from behind," she narrated unperturbed. Ana, who appeared to be a fighter, told the Arab Times that she was brought up by her father to be a tough girl who would not easily give up amidst the atrocities of life. "I don't easily cry. I have to be strong and my great source of strength right now is Allah (SWT)," she pointed out. She is currently undergoing counseling from the Social Workers at the Filipino Workers Resource Centre and some representatives of the Islam Presentation Committee.
Amid the reports by some of the local dailies that the families of the suspects are trying to negotiate an out-of-court settlement, Ana expressed that she is resolved to pursue the case against the suspects and vowed to fight till justice is served.
"I tried to fight back but they were too strong for me. Whenever I shouted, they would strangle me and hit me. I didn't want to die so I endured all the pain to keep myself alive so they would pay for what they have done to me," she stressed.
She disclosed that out of the 17 suspects, 14 of them sodomised her while one took her from the front while the other two pitied her and did not touch her. Some also asked her to perform oral sex on them. Due to the pain, she even excreted some waste but this did not stop the suspects from raping her, she said "They're like animals with no mercy," she pointed out with quivering voice.
She said that the two suspects who did not touch her were the ones who "I came here to work and have a better life for me and my family but this nightmare happened to me," she said. Meanwhile, Philippine Embassy Administrative Officer Dr. Tomara Muamar Ayo informed the Arab Times that 15 of the 17 suspects who were positively identified by Ana are now under the custody of the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Police Station. He added that the embassy-hired lawyer, Atty Ayed Al-Subaie submitted Monday additional evidence to the Ahmadi Prosecutor's Office that would boost the case against the suspects. He disclosed that the lawyer believes that Ana has a strong case against the suspects.
"We believe in the Kuwait Justice system and the Philippine Embassy under the leadership of Ambassador Ricardo Endaya will extend its full assistance to the victim to ensure that justice will prevail," Ayo stressed.
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