Like it or not, slavery still exists in this world. In fact, it exists right here in Singapore, too.
For example, I’m a slave to my nasty boss; a call from him and I know I’m going to be stuck in the office for hours.
We call it “work” because it’s an easy euphemism to cloak the true nature of slavery, whereby the rich control the poor.
And if my premise isn’t strong enough, wait till you read this.
Maid Tied to Tree Under The Sun for Punishment
26-year-old Lovely Acosta Baruelo (Lovely is her name, not an adjective to describe her) hails from the Philippines and worked for a wealthy family in Saudi Arabia as a domestic helper.
Nothing’s wrong with that, except that she was photographed being tied to a tree.
Now, lest you’re not familiar with the climate of Saudi Arabia and think that it’s cool there, think again: according to holiday-weather.com, the average temperature in Saudi Arabia during May is 31 °C, and it can go up to 37°C. That’s slightly hotter than Singapore.
Image Went Viral
According to NextShark, the images were taken by her co-worker, and the reason why Baruelo was sun-tanning fully dressed forcefully?
She had apparently left a piece of expensive furniture outdoor.
The employer wanted to show her how it felt like to be staying under the sun for a long period of time.
Yeah, they’re literally comparing a non-living thing with a human being.
Here’s the Facebook post that started it all (it could be someone else who helped post it and not the co-worker’s account):
According to the co-worker, the employer would also hit them when they’ve committed minor mistakes.
Netizens Wanted Justice
With the images spreading all over the world, Baruelo’s plight was reported and the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was notified. On the same day, she was repatriated.
When Baruelo was back home (home in the Philipines, not in Saudi Arabia), she went to Facebook to thank netizens, and asked them to help her co-workers who were still there.
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She wrote, “Thank you so much to all those who helped me. I want to also ask help for the other Filipinos left there. They are the ones who helped me and uploaded my pictures. I am afraid for their safety. I hope they get rescued too.”
And by the way, according to her Facebook profile, she’s a BTS fan, so hopefully, BTS can help out ‘coz BTS is bae (???).
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