The Kuwaiti government sentenced death by hanging to employers and main suspects in the death of overseas Filipina worker (OFW) Joanna Demafelis.
The court released the decision during the first hearing of the case under a Kuwaiti court.
The couple can still appeal for their case if they will return to Kuwait, an anonymous source told GMA News.
On February 6, the body of Demafelis was discovered stuffed inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment in Kuwait.
Autopsy showed the OFW suffered repeated beatings which resulted to a broken rib, trauma, and internal bleeding.
Her employers, Nader Essam Assaf, a Lebanese national, and his wife Mona Hassoun, a Syrian national, were the primary suspects for the murder and were subjects of search of the Interpol.
The two flew out of Kuwait until Assaf’s arrest on February 23 and Hassoun’s arrest on February 24.
Upon their arrest, Assaf was brought in the custody of Lebanon while Hassoun was in the custody of Syrian authorities.
Demafelis’ death prompted the government to impose a deployment ban of OFWs to Kuwait.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Philippines and Kuwait, which aims to protect the rights of OFWs in the Gulf state, is expected to be signed in April.
Despite this, Philippine labor secretary Silvestre Bello III reiterated that the ban will stay until justice for Demafelis’ death is served.
