The case of Warni
When Warni was seen off at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, her parents may have worried a little about her welfare, but promise of a good salary in dollars no doubt quietened their fears. She promised to write regularly and of course to send them money from her salary to pay for her younger sibling's school fees.
Like so many young girls in Indonesia, Warni went to work in Saudi Arabia as a housemaid. She went knowing that it would be hard work and that there would be problems with the language and culture, but the salary was much higher than could be earned by a housemaid working in Indonesia. By sending the money back to her parents, Warni knew that she would be helping her family at a time when money was scarce and Indonesia was still trying to climb out of an economic crisis.
On June 19, 2000 Warni was beheaded in a small Saudi Arabian town, having been found guilty of murdering her employer, the mistress of the house. Her punishment was in accordance with syariah law in Saudi Arabia and was carried out with little fanfare shortly after Warni was sentenced. She was probably made to kneel in front of the executioner with her hands tied behind her back, at which point the executioner may have given a little jab in the base of the spine with his sword. The executioner would then swiftly sever her head as Warni involuntarily raised her head in reaction to the jab in the spine. Perhaps she was lucky enough to have been dealt with by a seasoned executioner, one swift slash of the sword and blackness. In syariah law, the victim's father or closest family member may carry out the execution and there are stories of old men, weak with age, hacking away at someone's head before finally severing it.
On the news of Warni's execution, the Indonesian Minister of Manpower explained that they had done everything they could to save Warni's life. They had appealed to the family of the victim, but to no avail. Perhaps the payment of "blood money" was considered too low. Only the family could free Warni from her destiny by forgiving her, but forgiveness is a rare commodity in a people who were once described as unloving and unloved.
Warni was one of many housemaids sent to Saudi Arabia and one of few who fell foul of the harsh laws there. Indonesia desperately needs the foreign exchange and so cannot afford to make waves. There was no strong condemnation from Indonesia or outcry at the news of another Indonesian girl being accused of an unlikely crime and then shortly afterwards being executed. After all, the Indonesian government had managed to save Kartini from a similar fate some months ago.
The clock cannot be put back and Warni will not come back to her family. And her letters will be stowed away, and perhaps the tales written within as momentos to be read and reread. And the Indonesian government will continue to receive those sought after dollars from housemaids working abroad and no one will bother to ensure the safety of those workers. You have to break a few eggs to make an omelet. And the agencies that recruit the maids and send them overseas will continue to do so because it is the nature of the beast -- the sale of human lives to be used as seen fit by whomsoever pays the right price.
JOHN C. TORR
Jakarta