Newly designated Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Mohd. Noordin Pendosina N. Lomondot sees off “Marissa,” an Overseas Filipino Worker who won her rape and frustrated case against a Kuwaiti traffic officer, during a call at the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait on 23 November 2020. (Kuwait PE photo)
1 December 2020 – A Filipina domestic worker who won a rape and frustrated murder case in 2014 against a Kuwaiti traffic officer will soon be reunited with her family and start a new life in the Philippines, following her repatriation by the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait.
“Marissa” joined the Embassy’s special chartered flight to Manila on 29 November 2020, which coincided with the Philippine commemoration of the 18-Day Campaign To End Violence Against Women (VAW). Her free air ticket was shouldered by the Assistance to Nationals (ATN) Fund of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
In a courtesy call prior to the special chartered flight, newly designated Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Mohd. Noordin Pendosina N. Lomondot extended his best wishes to “Marissa” as she restarts her life in the Philippines.
“The Embassy is glad that Marissa will finally close this difficult and painful chapter of her life, and will embrace her 14-year-old son once again after years of working overseas. I pray that with her second life, Marissa’s story and bravery will continue to serve as an inspiration to others in fighting for what is right and just,” Ambassador-designate Lomondot said.
On the night of special chartered flight, Vice Consul and Assistance to Nationals (ATN) Unit Head Adrian Audrey L. Baccay, and Welfare Officer Llewelyn D. Perez led the officers of the Embassy and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office-Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (POLO-OWWA) in sending Marissa off at the Kuwait International Airport.
Marissa stayed at the Embassy’s ATN Shelter, then at POLO-OWWA’s Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Resource Center (MWOFRC) for years while pursuing her case in court. Sheikha Fauzia Salem Al-Sabah served as Marissa’s lawyer, taking the case free of charge.
On the early morning of 1 October 2012, Marissa was raped, stabbed multiple times, and left for dead in South Surra Area by Kuwaiti police officer Lance Corporal Yahiya Mohamad Ahmad Abdullah. She was brought to the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital after a good Samaritan took notice of her crawling on the roadside to seek help.
In June 2014, the Kuwaiti Court of First Instance found the Kuwaiti traffic officer guilty of rape and frustrated murder charges, and sentenced the latter to death by hanging. However, the said court ruling was later commuted to a life sentence. The Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior, the employer of the Kuwaiti traffic officer, later paid the civil compensation for the case. END
