Its very sad to hear that, and still its happening now. Maids are human too that needs respect for their job. They have family being left behind from their home country. They did not go to middle east to be treated that way. I hope those country should be fair to expats and people working in their Kingdom, this is a clear violations of basic human rights. Its unfair.
Just wait until these desert nations run out of their petro-dollars. Saudi Arabia is already facing trouble due to the rising unemployment rates. The population is growing at a rate of 3% per year and the government doesn't have enough money to keep everyone happy. May be after 20-30 years, we will see Saudi maids working in the Philippines and Nepal.