By Khidr Al-Khairat
JAZAN — The Ethiopian housemaid who brutally attacked a housewife and her two children in a Jazan village last Friday had never been ill-treated by them, the head of the family said.
Mohammad Aziri said the family treated the maid, Jushoon Sinamo, very well and they often had their meals together. He said she never had given them any problem during the past four years of her employment with the family.
[caption id="attachment_116348" align="alignright" width="300"]
Ruaa, 7, at the hospital. — Okaz photos[/caption]Aziri said he and his wife led a very quiet life with their young daughters Ruaa and Raghad in the village of Sanbah. He said they in fact did not need the services of a housemaid to do the household chores because they are a small family. However, they hired Sinamo four years ago to help take care of their children, especially Raghad, who is a disabled child.
Aziri said the maid brutally assaulted his wife and children out of the blue.
Last Friday, she called in Raghad who was watching TV and started bashing her head against the wall. The nine-year-old girl lost consciousness immediately and thankfully does not remember anything.
“All what she remembers is the maid calling her to sleep in her room while she was watching TV. The maid then beat her younger sister Ruaa, who is only 7, and my wife with a stick. Ruaa is bedridden and has four fractures in her skull. She can barely open her eyes,” said Aziri.
“My life is completely twisted now. We were just preparing to have a celebration for my two daughters for doing well during the first semester in school. We never mistreated the maid and we never did her any injustice.
I cannot wrap my head around what had happened,” said Aziri.
Aziri said his wife was pregnant with their third child and was in her fourth month.
“We are a small family. We did not need a housemaid to do any housework. We only needed her to help us take care of Raghad because she is a girl with special needs. The maid is with us for four years and we never had a problem with her,” said Aziri.
He said he had raised her salary and paid for her travel expenses.
But he said he remembered seeing some bite marks on Raghad's hands a while ago.
“We asked the maid about it but she said they were mosquito bites. I think the maid might have been abusing my daughter for some time, probably because she cannot express herself because of her disability,” said Aziri.
He said a week before the attack occurred the maid began acting strangely. She would drop on the floor and scream.
“I asked her what was the problem and she said she wanted to go back to her country. I immediately agreed and booked her a ticket for the next Monday on the first available flight to her destination. The wait was unnerving for her. She claimed she was ill, so we took her to a private hospital,” said Aziri.
H said the doctor gave the maid some medicines and they took her back home.
"Sometime after coming back home, she told us that she was on the phone with her husband and that he had advised her not to take the medication because it would make her infertile. She became very stubborn and insisted on going back to her country. I tried to convince her to wait until the flight becomes available. She refused to cooperate saying her mother has died,” said Aziri.
He said he contacted Sinamo's brother in Ethiopia who said their mother was alive.
“Once I made sure the maid calmed down and is in good condition, I left the house to finish some business. When I returned, I found my wife lying on the floor in a pool of blood with her head bashed,” said Aziri, adding that his wife screamed at him to check on the girls.
“I walked in like a blind man barely able to comprehend the scene in front of me. I found Ruaa on the floor in a pool of blood underneath the blankets, her face and head splattered with blood. I called for my neighbors' help. I then found Raghad in the maid’s room also lying in a pool of blood,” said Aziri.
He said the neighbors helped him take his wife and daughters to Prince Mohammad Bin Nasser Hospital in Jazan.
“The police later came and arrested the maid who was found a few blocks away from the house. We always treated nicely and this is how she paid us back. I almost lost my entire family. My wife and daughters are now in King Fahd Central Hospital,” said Aziri.
Jazan Police Director Maj. Gen. Nasser Al-Dowsary said police arrested the maid and put her in the women’s prison in Jazan.
“The emir is personally following up the case, which is currently under investigation. As of now, we do not know anything about the maid's motives for the attack,” said Al-Dowsary.
