BEIRUT: An Ethiopian worker died Sunday after falling from the fourth floor of a building in Metn’s Fanar, a security source told The Daily Star.
Local news channel LBCI identified the woman as Tekle Gebreslasse, born in 1993.
Her body was found around 7:30 a.m., the source said, after the family of five she worked for woke up to find her missing, before finding her outside.
“The family has been interviewed and they said there were no problems ... with her,” the source said, adding that neighbors had given corroborating statements.
Gebreslasse’s body was transferred to Baabda Governmental Hospital by a Civil Defense ambulance team.
Security forces reportedly arrived at the scene early Sunday and began investigations after receiving a call from the her employers.
The source said investigations were centered on the deceased’s cell phone, after a forensic doctor found no signs of previous abuse on her body.
“The public prosecutor has kept the case open [pending] the results of the phone investigations to determine whether she received any bad news or any other information,” the source said.
He added that the case was being treated as a suicide.
There are an estimated 200,000 foreign domestic workers in Lebanon under the much-criticized Kafala sponsorship system, which binds the maid to the employer.
Human Rights Watch and other organizations have called on Lebanese authorities to address the "high levels of abuse and deaths" of maids in the country. Read more here