Domestic helper became angry after employer refused to pay her salary or contact home

A foreign housemaid in Bahrain is facing charges of arson after she admitted to having set the house of her employer ablaze for calling her “stupid” in a heated argument over wages, Bahraini newspaper Al Bilad has reported.

The incident took place in February when the African domestic helper torched the room of her employer’s daughter in the town of Al Mahruq east of the capital Manama before she escaped the house.

After arrest, the employee told investigators she had got angry after her employer had refused to give her wages and allow her to contact family in the homeland. She alleged that during the argument the employer had called her “stupid” and insulted her.

The maid, whose name or nationality was not disclosed, thought of taking revenge by torching the bed of the employer’s daughter and fled the house after the act, according to the report.

The Junior Criminal Court in Manama started hearing the case against the 24-year-old defendant, who also faces charges of putting other lives and their money at risk.

The court will resume the hearings on June 2.

Migrant workers account for about 55 per cent of Bahrain’s estimated 1.5 million people, according to 2017 official statistics.

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