Saudi couple "hammer 24 nails" into Sri Lankan maid

[Taishi Ci]

Saudi couple "hammer 24 nails" into Sri Lankan maid

An x-ray shows nails in a hand of L.T. Ariyawathi, 49, who returned to Sri Lanka after 5 months as a maid in Saudi Arabia, in a hospital in Matara, 160 km (100 miles) south of Colombo, August 26, 2010. A Saudi couple tortured Ariyawathi after she complained of a too heavy workload by hammering 24 nails into her hands, legs and forehead, officials said on Thursday. Nearly 2 million Sri Lankans sought employment overseas last year and around 1.4 million, mostly maids, were employed in the Middle East. Many have complained of physical abuse or harassment. Credit: Reuters/Stringer

COLOMBO | Thu Aug 26, 2010 7:14am EDT

COLOMBO (Reuters) - A Saudi couple tortured their Sri Lankan maid after she complained of a too heavy workload by hammering 24 nails into her hands, legs and forehead, officials said on Thursday. Nearly 2 million Sri Lankans sought employment overseas last year and around 1.4 million, mostly maids, were employed in the Middle East. Many have complained of physical abuse or harassment.

L.T. Ariyawathi, a 49-year old mother of three, returned on Friday after five months in Saudi Arabia. Her family only realized what had happened to her when she complained of pain and they took her to see the doctor, Foreign Employment Bureau officials said. "The landlord and the wife of the landlord hammered 24 nails into her when she complained of the heavy workload," Kalyana Priya Ramanayake, media secretary of the Foreign Employment Bureau, told Reuters.

Ariyawathi has been taken to hospital for surgery to remove the nails, which according to the maid were hammered in when they were hot. X-rays showed one- to two-inch nails in her hands and legs, with one over her eyes, officials said. The Foreign Employment Bureau is consulting the Attorney-General while the Sri Lankan External Affairs Ministry is to take the matter up with the Saudi government, officials said.

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Writing by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Nick Macfie)

 

[Sun Ce]

Doctors remove 19 nails from Sri Lankan maid


Doctors remove 19 nails from Sri Lankan maid

A Sri Lankan housemaid whose Saudi employer allegedly embedded 24 nails in her body was recovering in hospital on Friday after doctors removed 18 of them during a three-hour surgery.

Published: 1:28PM BST 27 Aug 2010

<!-- COMMENTS DISABLED IN SECTION PROPERTIES -->

L.T. Ariyawathi, 49, alleged that her Saudi employer had tortured her and drove nails into her body as punishment Photo: GETTY

L.T.

Ariyawathi, 49, alleged that her Saudi employer had tortured her and drove nails into her body as punishment Photo: GETTY

LT Ariyawathi, 49, claimed that her Saudi employer tortured her and drove nails into her body as punishment. "We removed 13 big nails, each about two inches long, and six smaller ones," hospital director Prabath Gajadeera told AFP.

He said six nails were not immediately removed because the procedure might have resulted in serious nerve damage. <!-- BEFORE ACI --> "She is now conscious and recovering well," Mr Gajadeera said. Sri Lanka's government has launched an investigation into the claims of torture.

“We are conducting an investigation and we will coordinate with Saudi authorities to have the suspects arrested,” Economic Development Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena told reporters. The woman travelled to Saudi Arabia in March and returned home last week, complaining of abuse by her employer.

The nails were driven beneath the skin of her hands, feet and legs, according to pictures of the X-rays published in the local newspapers, and .
According to Sri Lanka’s Foreign Employment Bureau, around 1.8 million Sri Lankans are employed abroad, of whom 70 per cent are women.

Most are employed as housemaids in the Middle East, while smaller numbers work in Singapore and Hong Kong. Complaints of harassment are made regularly and the government has made it compulsory for migrant workers to register with local authorities, to ensure they can be provided with consular services if they encounter problems.