An overseas Filipino worker is currently detained for the death of her newborn baby in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Gerwin Sundungan of Kaagapay Ng Bawat OFW Advocates said that the OFW got pregnant after she was raped by an expatriate who works as her employer’s on-call driver, reported GMA News.
Due to fear, the OFW kept her pregnancy a secret from her employers in Albaha in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia until she gave birth last month.
Sundungan has reached out to Philippine foreign officials to help the OFW. Vice Consul Lemuel Lopez, head of the Assistance to Nationals (ATN) of the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah, has since visited the domestic worker in her detention cell.
The OFW said that she gave birth to her baby last month and was seen by her employer.
The employer then left the room to call her children but when she returned, the baby was already wrapped in a piece of garment and placed inside a paper bag.
The baby was rushed to the hospital but it died along the way.
Lopez said that the OFW is currently facing charges of immorality and infanticide. she could also face death penalty if proven guilty.
However, he said that the charges could be dropped if it was proven that the OFW suffered from post-partum depression.
“Mukhang post-partum yun yung pwedeng one reason kung bakit nagawa nya yun. ‘Pag na-prove na postpartum depression most probably she will not be charged,” Lopez said.
He also urged all OFWs who experienced sexual harassment to immediately report the incident to the police.
