Three Filipino women, including a 17-year-old teenager, have allegedly been gang raped in Kuwait in the past 10 days, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Tuesday.

Citing a report from the Philippine embassy in Kuwait, the DFA said the three overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were abducted by unidentified men aboard a car while they were walking in the streets of Kuwait city.

Kuwaiti police are still trying to find out if the suspects are the same in each case, the report said.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo told reporters that the department will exert all efforts to ensure the prosecution and conviction of the suspects in the crimes.

Romulo assured that the Philippine embassy in Kuwait and the DFA's Office for Migrant Workers Affairs are providing legal, consular and psychological assistance to the three Filipinas.

"The department will provide the necessary legal funds to secure the conviction of those responsible for committing this terrible crime on our nationals and will ensure that the victims get the proper counseling and social support in order to overcome the trauma of this incident," Romulo said.

In November 2003, the Philippine government successfully sought the prosecution and imprisonment of three Kuwait policemen for the rape of a Filipina.

The Kuwaiti court imposed prison sentences on the three Kuwaitis in a decision rendered on May 31, 2005.

Source: Xinhua