RIYADH, 29 September 2007 — A Sri Lankan Embassy official told Arab News that Anista Marie, the Sri Lankan maid, who says her Saudi sponsor falsely imprisoned her for eight years without pay for her services, has given the mission power of attorney to press charges against her sponsor.
Marie has said she would like to get home to her family as soon as possible and indicated that the desire to leave was stronger than her will to stay in the Kingdom to follow through on pressing criminal charges against her sponsor, a Saudi woman whose name has not been provided.
Meanwhile, in a gesture befitting the month of Ramadan, Sri Lankan expatriates in the capital raised about SR6,500 for Marie at a grand iftar party held at the Sri Lankan Embassy Thursday. More than a thousand people were present at the party, which was organized with the cooperation of a group of Sri Lankan philanthropists.
“The guests at the party voluntarily decided to give a purse to Anista Marie who was freed by security authorities from a Saudi household where she was working like a slave without salary for the past eight years,” W.S.M.S. Wijesundera told Arab News.
“Half of the contribution was made by Unique Choice International, a Riyadh-based company managed by a prominent Sri Lankan,” he added. “The balance was donated through a hat collection made at the iftar.”
Wijesundera said the Sri Lankan mission would represent Marie’s case in the Saudi court in her absence to negotiate for her dues on her behalf.
Her eight year’s worth of salary, holiday pay and airfare is estimated to be about SR33,000.
Forty-year old Marie is a widow with four children from a poverty-stricken fishing family in Chilaw, a coastal town 70 kilometers from Colombo.
Marie’s sponsor has not been officially charged with any crime and it is unknown if she will ever be taken to a court for allegations of false imprisonment or whether she would be compelled to pay the woman’s eight years’ worth of unpaid wages if found guilty.
When Riyadh police rescued Marie on Sept. 5 they had initially demanded that the sponsor give up her passport; she refused with impunity.
Because Marie has little or no hope of recouping the back salary owed to her by her sponsor any time soon, she is forced to rely on charity even for her home ticket, which her sponsor is also compelled to pay under the Saudi law.
Wijesundera said the embassy would provide Marie with the air ticket and transport from the Colombo airport to her hometown Chilaw.
The case came to light when Marie called Arab News on Aug. 14 claiming to be working in slave-like conditions at a residency in Riyadh. Marie was able to access the phone and call Arab News with the help of a family member who sympathized with her plight. She says she took the job 10 years ago and that problems began eight years ago when she stopped receiving her salary.
When she initially spoke to Arab News, Marie said she was unsure of her exact location. It took about three weeks for police to track down the location of the residency in Khansalallilah district, 12 kilometers away from downtown Riyadh.
“I am thankful to all Sri Lankans who contributed and helped me in my release from the decadelong misery,” said Marie at the fundraising event.
“Now I am going home with jingling pockets because of the generosity of the benefactors who helped me without any reservation.”
Marie’s case echoes a similar one from 2005 when Shanthi Menike Herath, a Sri Lankan maid from Kurnegala, about 70 kilometers from Colombo, was rescued by Saudi authorities from a household near the Kuwait border after six years of false imprisonment. Herath had been working in the house without pay and had been prevented from sending letters to family back home or allowed to leave the residency by the family.
Police responded after Sri Lankan officials reported that Herath’s 22-year-old son had been trying to track down his mother, whom he hadn’t heard from in three years.
Herath’s salary was paid after Saudi police mediation with the family, but no criminal charges were ever filed for false imprisonment.
