Ranara raped, slain, burned; body left in Kuwait desert
Ople rejects reimposition of deployment ban
THE charred body of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) was reportedly pregnant when found in a desert in Kuwait on Sunday, January 22, 2023, as reported by the local media there.
Based on a statement from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), the victim, was identified as 35-years old Jullebee Ranara, whose body was reportedly found burned and abandoned in the desert.
A report from the English-language publication Arab Times disclosed that the 17-years old son of Ranara’s employer was arrested by the police and had confessed to the crime.
“The accused happened to be a Kuwaiti juvenile who raped his family housemaid and committed a gruesome murder by burning her body and throwing it at a roadside in the Salmi area,” the report reads.
On Saturday, the day she went missing, Facebook was flooded with messages from Ranara’s friends and fellow OFWs in Kuwait seeking help on her whereabouts.
Already a mother of 4 back in the Philippines, Ranara was presumably killed by the suspect after he got her impregnated as she was about 3 months pregnant at the time of her death, according to the result of her autopsy cited by the Kuwaiti media.
Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) secretary, Susan ‘Toots’ Ople, had already visited the family of Ranara to personally condole with them “at this very difficult time.”
She also vowed full government support to them including their quest for justice.
Ople likewise condemned the crime and urged the Kuwaiti government to work on the quick resolution of the case by bringing its perpetrators to justice.
She also rejected the suggestion by some lawmakers for the reimposition of a deployment ban in Kuwait, noting that its government has been fully cooperating with Philippine authorities.
It can be recalled that in April 2018, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the “permanent ban” on the deployment of Filipino workers in Kuwait over the increasing incidents of crimes committed against OFWs there.
Two months prior, Duterte ordered a ‘temporary ban’ on OFW deployment in Kuwait after the tortured remains of OFW Joanna Demafelis, 29, was found stuffed inside a freezer of her employer’s house.
In May 2018, however, Duterte relented and agreed to lift the ban after a series of diplomatic negotiations and agreements between Manila and Kuwait.
