The tragic story of Daniela Demafelis who had several broken ribs and trauma in the pelvis and kidney area and put inside the freezer

News24xx.com - Police have arrested the employer of Filipino maid that found dead in a freezer in Kuwait after weeks of searches.

Joanna Demafelis, 29 yo, was found dead frozen in her employer's apartment more than a year after she was reported missing.

Nader Essam Assaf was arrested in Lebanon on suspicion of murder, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said on Friday, February 23, 2018. Demafelis's death sparked outrage in the Philippines and a ban on Filipinos traveling to work in Kuwait. Assaf, a Lebanese national, was arrested in his home country, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

His wife Mona, who is also a suspect, is still on the run, and is believed to be in Syria, he added. Both suspects were the subject of an international manhunt aided by Interpol.

Demafelis disappeared in September 2016, and her body was found in a refrigerator in an empty apartment in Kuwait earlier this month. She left for Kuwait in 2014 in hopes of getting enough money to support her family.

The statement said a Kuwaiti senior security official informed the Filipino ambassador to Kuwait about the arrest.

Earlier, Mousaed Al Thwaikh, Kuwait's ambassador to the Philippines, assured the Philippine government that his country would do everything to find the suspect.

Assaf and his wife, Mona, a Syrian citizen, were accused of torturing and killing 29-year-old Demafelis.

Secretary of foreign secretary of the Philippines Alan Peter Cayetano welcomed the news, calling it "an important first step in the search for justice for Joanna".

Her body was found this month with signs of torture, said Philippine officials, in an apartment that appears to have been abandoned for at least a year.

Following the discovery, the Philippine authorities said they facilitated the return of more than 1,000 "depressed overseas Filipino workers" in Kuwait, most of whom had worked as domestic servants.

 

The State Department estimates that about 252,000 people live and work there. The Kuwaiti authorities, meanwhile, have vowed to do everything possible to see justice done.

Cayetano said he expects Kuwaiti authorities to request the extradition of Assaf from Lebanon, to be tried in Kuwait.

Duterte also has promised to seek justice for Demafelis and other Filipino workers who are tortured by their employers abroad.

 

 

 

 

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