KUWAIT: DEATH SENTENCE IN ABSENTIA FOR NEPALI IN KUWAIT

the Criminal Court presided by Judge Wael Al-Atiqi, in Kuwait, listened to the argument of the lawyer for a Nepali woman, identified as Dolma S., who was convicted of the premeditated murder of a Filipino housemaid at the house of their sponsor and sentenced to death in absentia. The court then set Dec 9, 2007, to issue a verdict. During the session, court appointed attorney Ali Al-Asfour told the court there is no evidence to prove the crime against his client. He requested that the court acquit her. Case files indicate on May 28, 2006, the victim reportedly saw the suspect in shameful act with a stranger on the roof of the next house. The victim told two men, who worked for the same sponsor. The men rushed to the roof and saw a man kissing the suspect. They tried to catch him, but he managed to escape. The men called their sponsor and told him what they had seen. The latter told them to take the woman to her room and detain her until he returned. When the suspect learned that it is the victim who had told the men about her behaviour, she decided to kill her. She waited until the victim went to bed and strangled her to death. Then she escaped from the house of her sponsor. The woman remained in hiding for about one year. During this time, her case was heard by the Criminal Court and was sentenced to death in absentia.