Lankan maid’s torture charges baseless: Saudi officials
Published: Sep 2, 2010 00:22 Updated: Sep 2, 2010 06:54
Saudi officials have refuted claims that a sponsor in Riyadh hammered nails into the body of his Sri Lankan housemaid as punishment, saying the allegations are baseless.
RIYADH: Saudi officials have refuted claims that a sponsor in Riyadh hammered nails into the body of his Sri Lankan housemaid as punishment.
“These allegations against the Saudi employer are baseless and the whole episode looks like one big drama,” said Saad Al-Baddah, chairman of the Saudi Arabian National Recruitment Committee (SANARCOM), which is responsible for the recruitment and management of foreign workers in the Kingdom.
He told Arab News on Wednesday that 49-year-old L.T. Ariyawathi has signed a letter acknowledging her last salary and said that she did not experience any problems with her sponsor before she left Saudi Arabia. Al-Baddah described the torture allegations as a figment of the maid’s imagination, adding that Saudi authorities are wondering how the nails and needles were embedded into her body.
The maid did not go to the doctors straight from the airport, only after a few days, Al Baddah said. He added that the Saudi sponsor, who is over 60, suffers from heart conditions. “The sponsor’s doctors have advised him to do only 25 percent of his normal work because of his weak heart,” he said. “How can a person in such poor health be able to do a strenuous activity like hammer nails into a woman’s body?” He added that a woman with so many nails inside her could not survive for weeks.
Al-Baddah met chairman of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLFBE) Kingsley Ranawake at his office on Tuesday and pledged all cooperation in any investigation into the maid’s case.
The Saudi Embassy in Colombo also issued a statement Wednesday casting doubt on Ariyawathi’s claims. “The important factor is that this housemaid cannot pass security checks and sophisticated machines at Riyadh and Colombo International Airports with these metal things inside her body,” an embassy spokesman said.
He added that the Saudi ambassador was giving his personal attention to the matter and constantly being updated by officials from Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Ministry.
Meanwhile, Arab News has learned that the Sri Lankan Ambassador Ahmed A. Jawad has submitted an official memo on Wednesday to a senior Saudi Foreign Ministry official attached to the consular division. Sources say that the letter was handed over to the ministry on behalf of the Sri Lankan government.
The Sri Lankan Embassy received the medical report of the housemaid on Saturday from SLBFE and it is waiting for approval from its government before presenting the document to the Saudi Foreign Ministry.
Ranawake, who is currently in Riyadh on a goodwill mission, was unavailable for comment.

Comments
MATADOR
Sep 2, 2010 02:19
Report abuseThe whole thing sounds quite fishy. It looks pretty self-inflicted.
Some people will go to great, great lengths to win some easy cash...
SIRI
Sep 2, 2010 02:23
Report abuse330 women came in body bags last year. 40 women per month come in body bags.
SL Govt should stop sending women to these countries.
Many women are burnt in the past.
Another woman jumped from a building to escape burning.
DARWIN AHMED
Sep 2, 2010 16:21
Report abuseREDONE
Sep 2, 2010 19:13
Report abuseFor God sake, think of your daily prayers and specially what this month all about.
ROBIN
Sep 2, 2010 19:17
Report abuseIs this going to be the same story with Saad Al-Baddah? Isn't it a little premature to come out with such statements? After making these statements do you really think he can be object in any type of investigation?
At this point only the sponsor and the employee know the truth of the story. However, I can assure you if it were the housemaid that was being accused by the sponsor she would be setting in jail.
Do I need to tell you how many people I have seen sign papers saying that nothing was owed to them when going on exit? If they don't sign, they can't leave.
By the way, all of the police in Saudi wear their seat belts and never talk on their mobile phones while driving. They never turn from the wrong lanes and always stop on Red before turning right.