CAIRO – 15 February 2018: An Egyptian teacher, based in Kuwait for almost 13 years, is facing allegations of rebuking a Kuwaiti nine-year old child, leading to his death. However, this is not the full truth.
Eissa al-Baloushy is a child with a special health condition, who suffers from heart problems. According to the Egyptian teacher’s story, one day before Baloushy’s death, Egyptian Naglaa Mohamed went to her class as usual, but she found it in chaos, which forced her to act firmly to control the class.
“Everyone responded and sat quietly except for Baloushy. I tried to be more assertive with him but he refused to obey and went straight to deputy director of the school who then called for me,” Mohamed said. She added that as they were talking in the deputy director’s office, the child started to deny her side of the story, calling her a "liar". She felt shocked and asked him if he could say a similar thing to his mother.
Baloushy’s mother came to school on the following day, but the child didn’t. She argued with the Egyptian teacher, claiming that she used violence against him and pushed him to the wall which made him feel bad. “I will issue a formal complaint against you at the Education Ministry,” the mother said, refusing to listen to any other testimonials from the school staff.
The Egyptian teacher denied that she knows anything about the Kuwaiti child's heath condition, while the mother affirmed that she told the administration.
As the mother was on her way to the ministry, according to Naglaa, the school tried to contact her more than once to apologize and reconcile, so the problem would end quietly, but the mother refused.
Later, Baloushy’s mother received another phone call from the maids at home, warning her that her child was blowing a lot of balloons. Shortly later, he fainted and died.
The medical report of Baloushy’s death cause stated that, "he exerted a lot of effort which lead to his death". It was affirmed that the death cause was natural, and not due to any kind of violence against him.
Most of the school staff acquitted Mohamed from harming the child in any way in their testimonials, According to Al Arabiya website.
The child’s family side of the story
In statements to El-Rai Kuwaiti newspaper, Baloushy’s father, Thamir al-Baloushy, said that there are many parents who complain from the Egyptian teacher's way of dealing with the students. “She beat my son, pushed him to the wall and kicked him out of the classroom. When his mother came back on the following day, she insulted her as well.
The school deputy director is an eyewitness to the whole incident.”
The father added that Mohamed insulted his child who is just one of many who suffer from "moderate disabilities".
He further explained that he has the right to ask about what really happened to his child that day. “I have the right to know the whole truth. My son was not just an ordinary child; he needed a special treatment.”
“All I know is that my son was abused by the Egyptian teacher one day; the next day, he fell dead,” he added.
The Kuwaiti Ministry of Education expressed its deep sorrow for the whole incident. The ministry's official statement pointed out that a comprehensive investigation is underway, and that all the needed measures will be taken. “Everyone involved will be punished, especially that the child was not an ordinary student; he was suffering from a health problem,” the statement read.
Any similar cases?
Last December, a video went viral on social media and caused a wave of rage within the Egyptian community; the video showed an Egyptian citizen being brutally beaten by a Kuwaiti citizen.
The Egyptian Consulate in Kuwait issued a statement regarding the attack on Egyptian Waheed Mahmoud Rifai, who is a shop attendant in Kuwait, and who was beaten by a Kuwaiti citizen until he fainted. The consulate said in its statement that the Egyptian citizen was released from the intensive care room, confirming that his condition was stable.
Egypt’s Minister of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriate Affairs Nabila Makram headed later to Kuwait to check on the health condition of the Egyptian citizen, and the ministry expressed support for his family.
FILE - Minister of Immigration Nabila Makram traveled to Kuwait to check on the health status of the attacked Egyptian expat
The Kuwaiti attacker was arrested by the authorities and an investigation was opened. It was mentioned in official statements that the Kuwaiti Government is "eagerly" following up on the investigations launched regarding the matter.
The Kuwaiti attacker was arrested on December 2017, and released later on February 14, on bail of 2,000 KWD.
This was not the first incident of its kind. Other Egyptians faced similar assaults and abuses in several countries, including what happened in 2016, when photos of an Egyptian citizen, assaulted in his workplace by a group of Jordanians in Amman, Jordan, surfaced on social media.
In a statement issued by the Kuwaiti General Directorate of Migration in May 2013, it was revealed that Egyptian workers come in the second place of the total number of foreign workers in Kuwait. India came in the first place.
Egypt’s Ministry of Manpower and Immigration said in May 2016, that the number of Egyptian workers abroad is estimated at five million workers mostly in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE.
In a population statistic published in March 2015, it was mentioned that Kuwait’s total residence by the end of 2014 reached 4.092 citizens, with a total growth of 3.2 percent, compared to the total population in 2013.
The report mentions that about 72.2 percent of the total workers in Kuwait are non Kuwaitis, as the real number of the Kuwaiti national workers inside their country is only 33.1 percent of the total population.
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