RIYADH: A Sri Lankan maid committed suicide here six days after her arrival in the Saudi capital, her country’s embassy said yesterday.
The woman of the house found Fathima Fazmila, 24, hanging from a noose made by her sari tied to a ceiling fan, according to the embassy.
“Ever since she came the maid looked sick and we were trying to make her feel at home since this was the first time she left home,” said Abdulaziz Al-Khereiji, her sponsor.
Fazmila, who arrived in the Kingdom on June 14, reportedly told her sponsor that she was recently divorced.
Saudi police said they have ruled out foul play. The sponsor said he paid SR8,000 in recruitment fees and paperwork to hire the maid. It is not known how much the maid herself had to pay recruiters or fixers to work in the Kingdom as a domestic servant.
There have been six reported suicides in the past six months of Sri Lankan domestic workers.
Speaking from Colombo, Sri Lanka’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Bhaila described it as an unfortunate incident where the sponsor was unnecessarily burdened due to the foolish action of the maid. He also said that the parents of the maid had already given their consent for her burial in the Kingdom.
The deputy minister also said that it is important to work out a mechanism to monitor the mental health of maids who are going for overseas employment. “Most of these maids decide to go abroad to alleviate their sufferings at home,” he said.
L.K. Ruhunuge, deputy general manager of Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), said that relatives should be careful not to send mentally distressed people abroad for employment.
“They should not only be physically fit to work in their overseas stations but also they must be mentally apt to adapt themselves to the alien environment,” Ruhunuge said.
