OFWs seek probe on abduction-rape of 4 RP nurses in Saudi

(Updated Oct. 7 12:30 a.m.) A militant migrants' group asked the Philippine Embassy on Wednesday to investigate the alleged abduction and rape of four Filipino nurses in Saudi Arabia, one of whom was killed. Kapatiran sa Gitnang Silangan (KGS) chairperson Eric Jocson said their group is conducting its own investigation about the abduction and rape of the Filipino nurses working in Riyadh hospitals. KGS is an affiliate of Migrante Middle East. “We are certain that the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh already heard or have been informed of such barbaric incidents (in) which (the) victims are Pinay nurses; what (is) worrying us is that we are not certain if the (Philippine) embassy officials have conducted their own thorough investigations on the two separate incidents of abduction and rape," Jocson said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines news site. Jocson said the first case involves a Filipino nurse working at Riyadh Kharj Hospital, who had to take a taxi after being left behind by the hospital's service bus. While on her way to her company accommodation, unidentified men reportedly stopped the taxi. "The following day, the Pinay Nurse was found in the desert in critical condition and with indication that she was raped and heavily beaten. She was immediately brought to RKH hospital," Jocson said. Jocson said two weeks later, she was pronounced dead while she was confined in the hospital. The second abduction and rape case involved three Filipino nurses working at the National Guard Hospital, also in Riyadh, Jocson said. Citing accounts of witnesses, he said the Filipino nurses were walking from their accommodation going to a department store when a car suddenly stopped behind them and its occupants forced them to get in. Days later, the three nurses were found in a secluded area in Riyadh, with indications they had been gang-raped. "Their medical examinations revealed that their organs have severe laceration," Jocson said. The assailants, as with the first case, have not been identified, Jocson said. Jocson said the Philippine Embassy must push through with the investigation, and represent the victims and their kin in filing appropriate cases against the suspects. Meanwhile, Migrante Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona questioned the embassy for failing even to issue an advisory to the Filipino community. “It is a routine for the RP officials in Riyadh to issue the necessary advisory to caution or warn its nationals and remind them to take extra care," Monterona added. “We are demanding from the RP embassy in Riyadh a thorough and impartial investigation on the two separate reported incidents of abduction and raping of Pinay nurses," he said. In a separate interview, Vice Consul Paul Saret said the Embassy has not received any report on the alleged Filipina victims of abduction and rape. Consul General Ezzedin Tago has already instructed Vice Consul Roussel Reyes to verify the reports, Saret said. “We have not received any information on the reported abduction and rape of Filipina nurses. We are verifying the report, and let’s just wait for the results of the verification," Saret told GMANews.TV.–VVP, GMANews.TV