Dying in pursuit of decent livelihood…

Last week, an unfortunate case of a girl who went to Saudi Arabia to seek greener pastures at 19 years and came back at 21, sadly in a casket, was highlighted.

The postmortem results showed that she was strangled, starved to death and her eyes gouged out. One can only imagine the pain and agony she went through.

What started as a promising journey to a foreign land, turned to a river of tears for her parents barely two years later. The family is demanding justice, but we all know that it’s highly unlikely she will get justice.

So, here I’m wondering why young girls continue to make this maiden trip to Saudi specifically, despite the horror stories that keep coming from that country.

Many questions linger on the motivation. But for some, it’s the frustration of not getting any jobs in the country.

The pressure from friends and parents sometimes plays a big role as well. I see young women, especially young single mothers struggling to make ends meet for their children and secure a future for them.

The demanding responsibilities push them to make extreme decisions. You are left wondering, should you sit around, where you see there is no future for your child or should you get up and try to do something?

Some tried alternatives locally, but didn’t succeed. The pressure, especially when one is a young single mother is even greater. These young single mothers are mostly below 22 years and are possibly living with their parents.

The pressure sometimes from the parents for you to do something and provide for your children triggers this desire to try it out in Saudi with the hope that their case will be different.

I think as a parent, even if your children have made bad decisions, you should not keep rubbing in on them ­— reminding them of their failures every time. This continuous punishment can frustrate your children and lead them to make crazy decisions that might be counterproductive.

You may be wanting to make your daughter to feel responsible and own up to her failures, but it doesn’t help to keep rubbing it in at every slight chance. Be a supportive parent to ensure that your children will not opt to die while trying than to stay in your home due to the toxic environment.