Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The beheading of 54-year old Indonesian maid, Ruyati, in Saudi Arabia on Satuday, June 18, 2011 really hurt the feelings of Indonesian people.

"It really hurts the feelings of the people especially the family and relatives of the victim at home, chief of National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas Workers (BNP2TKI) Jumhur Hidayat said here on Sunday.

Ruyati came from Sukadarma village in Sukatani sub-district, Bekasi, West Java.

Jumhur said BNP2TKI would immediately coordinate with the ministry of foreign affairs to have the body of Ruyati returned to her family in Bekasi for burial.

Ruyati was sentenced to death after proven guilty of murdering Khairiya binti Hamid Midjid, wife of her employer, by jabbing and stabbing her neck neck with a kitchen knife.

She is the 28th person beheaded in Saudi Arabia this year after 67 others undergone the same fate in Saudi Arabia last year.

Jumhur said he had contacted the Indonesian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Gatot Abdulah Mansyur, on Sunday night and was informed that the embassy would send diplomatic notes on Monday (June 20, 2011) to the Saudi Arabian government to speed up the repatriation of Ruyati`s remains to Indonesia.

He added that BNP2TKI would on Monday summon for questioning the official of manpower supplier company PT Dasa Graha Utama which sent Ruyati in October 2008 to Saudi Arabia.

Jumhur said that the Indonesian consulate general in Jidda has asked for wide access to the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry and legal counseling for Ruyati through two diplomatic notes.

According to him the consulate general had also attempted to ask for pardon from the victim`s family in the hope that Ruyati would not be executed, but the request was rejected.

Eventually the Saudi Kingdom ordered the execution based on the victim`s family request.

For the death penalty, BNP2TKI expressed deep condolences for the family of Ruyati. "We expressed our condolences to the family of Ruyati over the execution.
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Editor: AA Ariwibowo
Copyright © ANTARA 2011