KUWAIT: NEPALI WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN KUWAIT

a female Nepali domestic helper who claims to be innocent was sentenced to death in Kuwait. According to representatives of Maiti Nepal, United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Dolma Sherpa of Sindupalchowk, a mother of a three year old son, was sentenced for murdering a local woman. Sherpa's husband is reported to have been working in Iraq. "After Kuwait-based rights activist Raju Nagpal informed us through email about the court verdict this week we sent letters informing about Sherpa's plight to Embassy of Saudi Arabia, the labour department and the concerned ministry," said Bijaya Rai Shrestha of Paurakhi, an NGO working for women. Sherpa has been languishing in the central jail in Kuwait for the last five months for allegedly murdering a wife of her employer. "Charging that hair strands found on the hand of the deceased woman were that of Sherpa, the police had filed a case against her. Based on this evidence the court issued the death penalty after investigating Sherpa's finger prints," Shrestha said, adding that she still doesn't have any idea what kind of court handed down the sentence or whether there was a provision for appeal against the court's verdict.