A Lebanese employer of a Filipino domestic worker, whose body was found in a freezer in an apartment in Kuwait, has been arrested, officials in the Philippines said.
Nader Essam Assaf, a Lebanese national, is in custody in Lebanon, according to a statement from the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs. Assaf’s wife, Mona, who is Syrian, is still at large and is believed to be in Syria, the statement said.
The couple has been accused as principal suspects in the brutal torture and killing of 29-year-old Joanna Daniela Demafelis, a native of Sara, Iloilo province.
Assaf and his wife have been the subject of an Interpol manhunt after Kuwaiti authorities discovered Demafelis’ body in the freezer earlier this month. Authorities said they believe the woman’s body could have been stored there for up to one year.
Demafelis started to work abroad in 2014 to help provide for her family. However, her family lost communication with her in May 2016, according to CNN Philippines. They claimed they were only able to speak to her three times a year. And while Demafelis did not speak anything bad about her employers, her family believes she is being watched closely.
During what would be her final phone call home, Demafelis said she planned to visit them in 2018. But after not hearing from her for nearly a year, Demafelis’ family reported her as missing.
Authorities tried to locate her through the Kuwaiti partner of her employment agency but discovered that it had closed down. Her body wasn’t discovered until investigators zeroed in on her Lebanese employer, who had been accused of falsifying checks.
Citing Demafelis’ death and instances of worker abuse, Duterte’s government offered free flights home for the 10,000 or so Filipinos who had overstayed their visas and ordered a ban on the further deployment of workers to Kuwait.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said in a statement that President Rodrigo Duterte had been informed about Assaf’s arrest. He expects that Kuwait authorities to seek the Lebanese man’s extradition so he be tried in a local court.
The Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs said 276,000 Filipino workers were in Kuwait in January.