Female worker Soleha not a murderer: Father

By Ainur R. Sophiaan

MALANG, East Java (JP): Kadiran, a 70-year-old tenant farmer in Donomulyo village, said he felt a strong foreboding when one day, not too long ago, he saw the village chief approach his house with four other men.

His hunch proved to be founded. Among the men accompanying the village chief was Djamal Aziz, an executive of the Surabaya-based PT Andromeda Graha, a labor export company that recruited Kadiran's daughter Soleha to work as a servant in Saudi Arabia.

"I was told Soleha had been executed by injection by the Saudi Arabian government because she was found guilty of murdering her employer," said Kadiran.

The news broke the old man's heart, including that of his wife Zahra and his other children. The news spread fast and neighbors started to flock to his humble home in the Donomulyo district, Malang regency, about 70 kilometers south of Malang.

Born on July 16, 1969, Soleha was known as a shy girl who never bothered anybody, according to Kadiran.

"She liked to help people, which was why she started working only after finishing elementary school," Kadiran said, holding back his tears.

Soleha had been working as a domestic helper in several cities including Jakarta, Surabaya and Malang, to help her poor family in the mountainous village of Donomulyo.

Kadiran said that over the past year he had been wondering about the fate of his daughter. In July 1996, Soleha wrote that she had been imprisoned for the murder of her employer, but said she did not do it.

"She wrote how she was suffering in prison and asked us to help," Kadiran.

Previous reports said that Soleha entered Saudi Arabia legally in 1993 as a worker recruited by PT Andromeda Graha. In 1994, a Mecca court found her guilty of murdering her employer with an ax and she was sentenced to death. She was beheaded in Mecca last month.

News of her plight and her execution on Sept. 30 only became available here after AFP carried a report of her death from Saudi Arabia's interior ministry.

The Indonesian Embassy in Saudi Arabia first responded by saying that Soleha was not a legal worker because it had no data about her.

Money

Saudi Arabian Ambassador Abdullah Alim recently asserted that Soleha's trial had been conducted "fairly". He said Soleha had not been discriminated against for being a foreigner and she had been given a chance to defend herself.

According to Kadiran, Soleha wrote that the whole incident started when one of her employer's children was found to have stolen some money. Soleha reported this to another, older child of the employer.

Rather than thanking her, the elder brother swore at her and attacked her with a piece of wood. The female employer became involved in the brawl and was accidentally hit by the wood. The blow killed her.

Kadiran said that in her letter, Soleha said she was afraid of being sentenced to death.

"But my daughter was so sure that she did not kill her employer. The employer's own child did it," Kadiran said.

"Soleha said she felt so helpless and confused and did not know what to do to save herself," Kadiran said. "She was really confused and no one came to help her."

Upon receiving the letter, Kadiran said he sought the help of the labor supply company, but to no avail. The company told Kadiran that Soleha had already been executed.

"An employee at the company told me that (Soleha) was no longer their responsibility," Kadiran said.

Zahra, however, was not convinced that her daughter was already dead. She said she "knew" Soleha was still alive, until Thursday Oct. 2, when Djamal Aziz came to their house and told them she had been executed.

Injection

Kadiran said he was not sure how Soleha had died, by beheading or injection. "There were varying reports. I was told she died by injection," he said.

"As a religious man, I believe everything is in the hands of God. But as a human being, I am also sorry because there was no help for Soleha," he said.

"I am a small person, I am nothing," said Kadiran who was unaware that members of a non-governmental organization had been protesting Soleha's execution.

Zubaedah, a close childhood friend, immediately took leave from her employment as a servant in Surabaya and returned home when she heard the news. "I just can't believe it. It's impossible that she killed someone," said Zubaedah.

Kadiran's family has been holding a series of tahlilan gatherings to pray for Soleha's soul. "But I keep on seeing her," Kadiran said.

"I just wish someone would help to bring her body home so she can be buried here. But again, only a miracle from Allah can help us," Kadiran said.