Manama: A video clip of a domestic help physically abusing an infant in Kuwait has promptly gone viral on social networks in the Gulf and triggered a wave of calls to parents to be more protective of their children.
The clip shows the help slapping the girl in what seemed as an atrocious act of revenge against the family employing her, online users said.
Kuwaiti media said that the family had trusted the help after they noticed that her behaviour was satisfactory and allowed her to look after the baby.
However, their relations seemed to have deteriorated and the family decided to repatriate the help whose nationality was not given.
As the help was about to board the plane and leave Kuwait, she sent the video clip to the mother showing how her girl being slapped repeatedly, causing those who watched it to express their full compassion with the family and their utter condemnation of the abuse of a helpless victim.
“This is the price that families have to pay when they hire people they do not really know or whose motives they cannot truly understand,” a commenter said. “Mothers should not be working unless they are fully sure that their children are safe.”
Another commenter said that greater care should be applied while selecting domestic helpers.
“We are simply importing negative phenomena into our own homes, so we do need to be really careful because ultimately, the children are the ones who pay the price,” he said.
However, Yousuf said that Kuwaitis should expect such reactions from domestic helpers.
“It could be abuses by families or psychological problems suffered by the employees, but either way, it is an issue,” he posted. “It is about time families moved to rely on themselves and bring up their children in the right way,” he said.
Bu Sami called for putting the mother on trial over neglecting her child.
“She should be jailed for three years as stipulated by the law because she failed to look after her own baby. We do need to put an end to this horrible reliance on others to bring up our children and to help them take their first steps in life,” Bu Sami posted.
However, one commenter, writing under the moniker of Arrow said that video clip was a fake.
“It is a make-believe clip because the baby is not being really slapped or abused as we thought,” Arrow wrote. “It is obvious that Kuwaitis are very sensitive people whose passions and emotions can be stirred very quickly.”
The reports did not say when the clip was taken.
