By Joey Aguilar/Staff Reporter
Various Philippine groups in Qatar have condemned the gang-raping of a 32-year-old Filipina housemaid allegedly by five other Asian expatriates, describing it as an “inhumane act”.
The five, all reported to be Indian nationals, were arrested “following a joint entrapment operation by the Criminal Investigation Department of Qatar and the Interpol”, according to the Philippine news website, GMS. Sources said the incident took place on August 10.
“The criminals responsible for this should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law” the Foundation for Family and Life (FFL) Migrant-workers told Gulf Times.
An FFL official, who refused to be named, stressed that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) had left their families and children back home to work hard in a foreign land and “do not deserve this”.
“The culprits should be punished,” the official said.
Other groups like the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE) and Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants Qatar (PICPA) chapters have echoed the sentiments.
“We are expressing our outrage over the incident and are deeply disheartened for what had happened to our kababayan,” said PICE president Arnel Punsalan.
Leaders of various organisations said they would be posting the news on their individual Facebook pages and accounts in a bid to increase awareness among its members.
“This barbaric act has no place in this world, especially here in Qatar. We hope that justice will be met,” PICE said in a statement.
PICPA said that applying full force of the law would serve as a deterrent to offenders. It said that human rights of the expatriates should be protected and that everyone should be safe.
“At the same time, each one should take precaution and don’t allow any opportunity for people to commit such crimes.”
Individuals also decried the “attack” against the housemaid, saying “if petty crimes are punished, then this heinous crime should be dealt with accordingly”.
Philippine ambassador Crescente Relacion confirmed that the five suspects had already been arrested by the Qatari police.
He vowed that the embassy would extend all possible help to the Filipina, known to be a single mother. Counselling services would be provided to the victim.
Relacion also confirmed that the suspects entered the victim’s accommodation, claiming to be CID officials.
The embassy advised Filipinos to seek proper identity from people before letting them into their accommodation.
