OWWA to dig deeper into suicide of Filipina in Saudi

MALAPATAN, Sarangani – The Overseas Workers Administration (OWWA) will be seeking a deeper probe into the death of a 27 year-old Filipina, who was reported to have committed suicide while working as a domestic helper in Saudi Arabia last October 4.

OWWA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said he will ask the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to investigate the case of Maricris Serato who was reported to have committed suicide in Riyadh, Saudi.

Cacdac, who visited on Monday Serato’s family in Barangay Lun Masla here, assured that he will press for a deeper investigation on the case.

Mary Che Salili, the victim’s sister, doubted the claims of her sister’s recruitment agency, Techsearch International Corp. that her sister committed suicide.

She said she was still able to talk with her sister through Facebook last September 30 in which the victim informed her that she was already planning to go home on October 1 after she expressed fears of sexual abuse in the hands of the son of her employer who is a police officer in Saudi Arabia.

She alleged that Mary Cris had confided to her that Yousef Sulaiman Abdulaziz Alhawas, the son of her employer identified as Abdulrahman Albakri, tried to sexually molest her.

Salili said that their communication with Maricis was cut off last October 1 in which they were informed by officials of the recruitment agency that her sister committed suicide in Saudi Arabia.

“There was no clear details of the circumstances surrounding the death of my sister,” said Halili who feared of a possible foul play on the case.

Serato resigned as a cashier in a mall in General Santos before leaving for Saudi Arabia last July to work as domestic helper.

Salili said that she had already informed the agency officials regarding the ordeal of her sister in early September but the agency did not even bother to send her back home.