A 23-year old Ethiopian domestic worker dies in fall from 21st-storey balcony

SHARJAH - A maid has died after falling from the balcony of a 21st-storey flat in Al Majaz, police say.

Maj Mohammed Saeed Al Shehhi, the director of media and moral guidance at Sharjah Police, said the Ethiopian woman, 23, fell on Friday evening.

"A team from the CID and police rescue arrived on the scene and found the woman had already died," Maj Al Shehhi said.

"Her body was first taken to Kuwait Hospital but later, on the orders of the CID team, it was transferred to the police forensic laboratory to help in the investigations surrounding the death."

There have been a number of falls from high-rise buildings in Sharjah recently, mostly involving children.

Sharjah Municipality recently issued safety regulations for windows and balconies.

Windows in all new buildings must be at least 1.2 metres off the ground and in older properties must have devices to prevent them from opening wider than 10 centimetres.

Using verandas and balconies for storage is also banned because of the risk to children.

Mahfouz charged in contributing to death of Ethiopian worker

BEIRUT: Beirut’s general prosecutor has charged Ali Mahfouz with contributing to and causing the suicide of Alem Dechasa-Desisa, the Ethiopian domestic worker who committed suicide after a widely publicized beating outsider her consulate.

A judicial source told The Daily Star that Mahfouz was charged Thursday, adding that he is not currently in custody.

A video released by LBCI earlier this month showed Dechasa-Desisa moaning as a man, later identified as Mahfouz, dragged and forced her into a car. Mahfouz reportedly owns her employment agency. Read more...

A maltreated Ethiopian housemaid in Lebanon committed suicide

By Oliver Holmes, Reuters
BEIRUT — An Ethiopian housemaid in Lebanon committed suicide on Wednesday, Ethiopia's consul general said, a week after video footage of her being dragged along the streets by a man and forced into a car sparked national outrage.

"I went to the hospital today and they said that she hanged herself at 6 o'clock this morning,"

Asaminew Debelie Bonssa told Reuters, adding that the maid, Alem Dechasa, had been taken to hospital in order to recover from her forcible abduction. Read more....

LBCI identifies the man who abused the Ethiopian domestic worker

The scenes of the Ethiopian domestic worker being beaten outside the Ethiopian consulate were considered as a crime by all those who saw them. The Lebanese state mobilized its efforts, especially the cabinet and the Lebanese public opinion that strongly denounced what happened, calling for harsh sanctions against the perpetrator of such acts in the future.

Ali Mahfouz is the man seen in the video footage, abusing the Ethiopian worker; LBCI identified him through his plate number. Ali tried to justify his act by denying that he beat her; he stressed that the worker tried to commit suicide more than once and that he tried dealing with her humanely, but she refused to go to the airport for deportation. Read more...