AFP/ Kuwait City
Kuwait's appeals court has sentenced a female physician to four years in jail for torturing her African household worker who became partially blind as a result, local media reported Thursday.
Al-Watan newspaper reported on its website that the Kuwaiti doctor tortured the Madagascan domestic worker almost daily, systematically beating her until she lost vision in her left eye.
A lower court had acquitted the 55-year-old but the appeals court on Wednesday sentenced her to jail.
The court also fined the doctor $2,500 (2,300 euros) and ordered her to pay temporary damages of $16,500 to the worker.
The paper said that the doctor's niece helped the worker by taking her to a police station where she filed a complaint.
The verdict is not final as it must be reviewed by the supreme court.
Kuwait's parliament in June passed the first legislation in the oil-rich Gulf state to regulate the status of thousands of mainly Asian domestic helpers.
About 600,000 people, mostly from Asia, work for households in Kuwait.
The nation has a native population of 1.3 million in addition to 2.9 million foreigners.