Injured Amer recovering at Saudi German Hospital.

A seven-year-old child who sustained stab wounds to the neck and hands after being attacked by his African housemaid in Asir is in stable condition.

Miteb Al-Amer, the child’s father, said he never noticed anything unusual about his Ethiopian maid.

Al-Amer said his son, Amer, was playing when the maid suddenly came from behind, put a knife to his neck and tried to slaughter him.

“His mother and aunt rushed to the room after hearing his sister’s screams, only to find the boy resisting the maid, who froze with the knife in her hand,” he said.

The aunt had carried the victim to a hospital some 34 km from their home with the help of her nephew, who called an ambulance.

They were met by paramedics half way through the journey.

The boy was taken to the Saudi German Hospital because there were no bed available in Asir Central Hospital.

Medical personnel operated on the boy to make sure the arteries, veins and vocal cords were not damaged.

The father said his son left the operating room after midnight. The family has been reassured by doctors, but the attending surgeon admitted the boy to the intensive care unit to allow the wound to heal and his condition to improve.

We received word of the incident on Thursday evening, said Ahmad Ibrahim, Asir Red Crescent press spokesman.

“A rescue team has been immediately dispatched,” he said.

Lt. Col. Abdullah Shathan, spokesman for the hospital, confirmed that the boy is still under observation.

The maid has been arrested and is being interrogated for motive.

Al-Amer said he could not hazard a guess for the motive behind the crime. “This maid was not the first I recruited and I never expected her to do such a thing,” said the father. “We treat her well and give her wages every month.”

The latest incident is one of many attacks perpetrated by housemaids on children left in their care.

Al-Amer called on the Labor and Interior Ministries to intervene and come up with dramatic solutions to spare children from such criminal behavior.

“Resolving this issue does not lie with citizens. It should be dealt with by higher authorities,” he said.

 
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