Runaway told it’s futile to pursue the case Ayla Marisse G Ginete Contributor A Filipina housemaid has been allegedly raped by the person who had helped her run away from her sponsor and recruiter. G. C. (name withheld), who worked for a Bahraini sponsor for a few months, asked the household to send her back to the agency, claiming that she had been physically abused and forced to work longer than the normal working hours. “I was made to work almost 24 hours a day, often left with nothing to eat. I couldn’t bear it any longer. I was treated like a slave in that household, not a human being,” Gina told the Tribune yesterday. “I asked my madam to send me back to the agency. But there the manager scolded and beat me up. He hit me repeatedly as I explained to him why I left the household. “I was promised another sponsor. But a month passed and I endured the cruelty. One day I decided to escape. A Filipina working at a nearby store helped me get in touch with her friend who is married to a Bahraini man. “I stayed at the Filipina’s flat for three days, known to me only as Edith and her Bahraini husband as Hussein. The man approached me one day and asked me if I wanted a new job. I naturally agreed,” she said. Hussein took Gina out of the flat, telling her that they were going to the new employer’s house. Instead, she was taken to a flat apparently owned by Hussein. “He told me that my new employer is a Filipina married to a Bahraini. When I was taken to the flat, it was empty. I immediately sensed danger. I tried to get out, ran about, looking for an exit. “But the man took out a knife and put it against my throat, I was powerless to resist. He tore off my clothes and raped me several times. Then he locked me in a room. In the following morning the man raped me again. I refused to take a bath after the ordeal, but he forced me to do so. “Now I have no evidence of the rape. Embassy officials told me that pursuing the rape case is futile. I am helpless.”
