Police have arrested the employer of a Filipina maid found dead in a freezer in Kuwait after a weeks-long manhunt.<\/p>\n
Joanna Demafelis, 29, was found frozen in her employers’ apartment more than a year after she was reported missing.<\/p>\n
Nader Essam Assaf was arrested in Lebanon on suspicion of murder, the Philippines department of foreign affairs said on Friday.<\/p>\n
Ms Demafelis’s death prompted outrage in the Philippines and a ban on Filipinos travelling to work in Kuwait.<\/p>\n
Mr Assaf, a Lebanese national, was arrested in his home country, the Philippines department of foreign affairs said in a statement.<\/p>\n
His Syrian wife Mona, who is also a suspect, remains on the run, and is believed to be in Syria, it added.<\/p>\n
Both suspects were the subject of an international manhunt aided by Interpol.<\/p>\n
Philippines foreign secretary Alan Peter Cayetano welcomed the news, calling it a “critical first step in our quest for justice for Joanna”.<\/p>\n
How was Ms Demafelis’s death discovered?<\/strong><\/p>\n Her body was found this month with apparent signs of torture, Philippine officials said, in an apartment that had apparently been abandoned for at least a year.<\/p>\n In the aftermath of the discovery, Philippine authorities say they facilitated the return of more than 1,000 “distressed overseas Filipino workers” in Kuwait, most of whom had worked as household servants.<\/p>\n The country’s department of foreign affairs estimate that some 252,000 of its citizens are living and working there.<\/p>\n Kuwaiti authorities, meanwhile, have vowed to do everything possible to see justice is done.<\/p>\n Mr Cayetano said he expected Kuwaiti authorities to request the extradition of Mr Assaf from Lebanon, to stand trial in Kuwait.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Police have arrested the employer of a Filipina maid found dead in a freezer in Kuwait after a weeks-long manhunt. Joanna Demafelis, 29, was found frozen in her employers’ apartment more than a year after she was reported missing. Nader Essam Assaf was arrested in Lebanon on suspicion of murder, the Philippines department of foreign […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":404079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[17342,5334,519],"yoast_head":"\n