Body of Filipina maid killed in Kuwait comes home
Joanna Demafelis went to Kuwait four years ago to work as a maid. She came home in a coffin, received by her distraught family.
Last week, the body of a Filipina woman was found in a freezer in an abandoned apartment in Kuwait.
It turned out to be Joanna Demafelis. In 2014, she had gone to Kuwait to work as a maid, hoping to earn enough to support her family.
She went missing in September 2016.
Joanna’s body arrived in Manila on Friday, greeted by her distraught family.
Her death prompted the government of the Philippines to order the repatriation of Filipino workers in Kuwait and to place a ban on further deployment there.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte condemned what he sees as a pattern of mistreatment of Filipino workers.
Al Jazeera’s Katia Lopez-Hodoyan reports.