Riyadh  - A Saudi man whose wife tortured the family's Indonesian housemaid to death was sentenced to nine months in prison for failure to intervene, Saudi local media reported on Wednesday.

The court found the man guilty of negligence and disregard for the maid who had refused to eat in protest at the beatings she was suffering at the hands of his wife, the Saudi Okaz newspaper reported.

The man has served six months in prison awaiting trial. His wife is scheduled to be sentenced for manslaughter on July 14.

Lawyers expect the wife, a teacher, to receive more than two years in prison.

The family of maid accepted sharia-based "blood money" as compensation for the death, the newspaper reported.

Human rights organizations have often criticized Saudi Arabia for its high record of cases abuse on foreign maids.(dpa)