MANILA — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the Philippine Embassy has sent a note verbale to the Kuwait Ministry of Foreign Affairs to confirm if the body found in a freezer in Kuwait is a Filipina.
Raul Dado, executive director to the DFA-Office of Migrant Workers Affairs, said a team from the embassy is now meeting with local police and forensics to look into the case.
Arab Times reported that the deceased found at an apartment in Al-Shaab is believed to have been kept inside the freezer for more than a year.
Local authorities discovered the body after conducting an operation originally to evict the apartment tenant based on a court order.
When they entered the place together with the landlord and the caretaker of the building, Arab News noted it surprise authorities after finding a corpse inside the freezer.
According to the report, preliminary investigation revealed that the Lebanese employer of the domestic helper had already left with his Syrian wife in 2016 and was wanted for a series of case related to bouncing checks. Per the report, there were traces indicating the domestic helper was strangled to death amid torture.
If confirmed, Dado said “legal action may follow.”
Earlier, President Rodrigo R. Duterte ordered a temporary suspension of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) deployment in the Gulf State following the deaths and abuses of OFWs there. Despite the pronouncement, Malacañang announced on Thursday (Feb. 8) that the Kuwait government has invited Duterte to visit the Gulf State. (PNA)