The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed Tuesday the death of two overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in separate gruesome incidents in Kuwait.

The DFA said the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait reported that Astria Samad Abdul, a Maguindanao native, was tortured to death by her employers, spouses Abdulaziz al Falekh and Rabagh Mustafa Sahata. Both are Kuwaitis of Egyptian descent.

The couple admitted to the Kuwait police that they tortured Abdul to death and left her body in the Kabad desert area. The police found her remains on July 17.

Meanwhile, Cotabato native Norhaisa Nasa Andaw was stabbed to death by her Egyptian husband, Atallah Mohammad, at a salon in Jabriya, Kuwait.

According to the Embassy, Andaw was allegedly stabbed by her husband due to jealousy. She was stabbed 31 times before her husband fled the scene, leaving behind the knife and his slippers.

The case is already with the prosecutors, as a warrant of arrest and hold-departure order have been issued against the husband.

The Embassy is closely following both cases, and is in constant contact with the DFA on the developments.

The DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs is also in close contact with the families of the victims and providing assistance.

The DFA said the remains of Abdul will be subjected to further forensic examination and then repatriated to the Philippines.

Criminal charges have been filed against the couple.

The case prompted the Blas F. Ople Policy Center, a non-government organization that helps distressed overseas workers, to call on President Aquino’s administration to launch a swift and urgent investigation into the gruesome murder of Abdul.

Former labor undersecretary Susan Ople said despite the confession of her employers, the investigation should also look into how the Filipino maid was deployed, and the circumstances behind her transfer from one employer to another until she was killed by her own employers.

"The Philippine Embassy must take up the cudgels for our murdered kababayan and her family in the name of justice and accountability. Who deployed her? Based on scant details, it is apparent that she was already a victim of human trafficking and tremendous physical abuse even before she was killed," Ople said.

The Ople Center issued the statement in reaction to a news item written by Munaif Naif of Arab Times on the confession of a Kuwait couple that they maltreated the Filipino maid on a daily basis. When they feared that the maid would die, they took her in their car to the horse stables area in Kabad and crushed her under their vehicle to give an impression that she was run over by a motorist.

The news report did not state the victim's name, prompting the Ople Center to ask the Philippine Embassy to immediately ascertain the identity of the Filipino domestic helper so that her family could be informed.

It was later confirmed that it was Abdul who was murdered.

"Her employers should get the maximum penalty for this heinous crime, and the Philippine Embassy should make absolutely sure that the agent and agencies responsible for the Filipino victim's deployment and employment shall also be investigated and held accountable," Ople stressed.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said the DFA has authorized the Embassy to secure the services of a private law firm to assist the local prosecutors in handling the case.

Under the Revised Migrant Workers Act, the uses of the Legal Assistance Fund have been expanded to cover both the legal defense and prosecution of employers who maltreat their Filipino workers.