Worker Beaten by Sponsor in Front of Police

In another shocking news story out of Kuwait, the Arab Times reported last week that an Asian worker was beaten by his sponsor with an iron rod in front of a Kuwaiti police officer who stood-by and did not intervene.

The worker was trying to reach his Embassy after fleeing an allegedly abusive sponsor who had been mistreating him. In front of the Indian Embassy, the sponsor, accompanied by a policeman, began to brutally beat his employee with an iron rod in plain view of several people awaiting transaction services at the Embassy. Reports indicate that onlookers and Indian Embassy officials attempted to intervene but were deterred by the presence of the Kuwaiti police.

The worker was then handcuffed and taken to a local police station where he is reported to have entered into a "compromise" for fear of legal backlash threatened by his sponsor.

This is another example of how distinct privileges are awarded to Kuwaitis who are often exempt from legal prosecution in the face of blatant violations of national law that offers protections (albeit limited) to Kuwait's expat community.

Expatriate workers account for over 70% of Kuwait's population.