This archive report was first published on 4 September 2021.
On June 2, 2021, the family of Maximilla Muhadia received devastating news: their loved one had died in Saudi Arabia. Three months later, an autopsy revealed the shocking truth behind her death.
Maximilla, a Kenyan woman who had traveled to Saudi Arabia in search of better opportunities, was brutally murdered. The autopsy, conducted at a hospital in Nairobi, revealed that she had suffered severe head injuries, including mutilation of her eyes, nose, and mouth.
Her mother, Violet Kasika, was left heartbroken after identifying her daughter's body. 'Her eyes, nose, and mouth were mutilated and it was not easy to identify my daughter. It is only after I saw a denture space in her teeth that I was convinced,' she said.
Maximilla's family had pleaded with the government to help them repatriate her body, alleging that she had been tortured before her death. They claimed that she had made a distress call on May 15, 2021, stating that she was receiving death threats.
On Thursday, members of parliament demanded action from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, citing the increasing cases of mistreatment of domestic workers in the Middle East.
‘We have visited what are considered successful agencies, but we have found out that there are agents out there who are not complying with the rules. Therefore, some of them are the cause of what is being witnessed by domestic workers,’ said National Assembly's Labour and Social Welfare committee chairman, Kabinga Wachira.
