‘The mistress when angry would hit me with anything’

The story of Kanchana who went  to Saudi because she was poor

A mother who left for Saudi from her home in Galewela in search of a good source of income has returned to the country not only empty handed but with many injuries sustained after been beaten by her employers during her three months’ service as house-maid in Damam, Saudi Arabia.   
After her arrival at home from abroad on Saturday (18)her husband Saman Kumara Bandara was preparing to take her to hospital when we visited them.   
W.D. Kanchana Kumari (33), a mother of the then four-year-old child left for Saudi on September 5, 2016 through a job agency in Kurunegala on faked documents prepared by the agency for her.   

In Saudi she had been employed in domestic service in Damam. For this period she had not been paid a salary but given basic food and scant clothing,  harassed and beaten.   
She was still suffering from pain from cuts and bruises that were the result of the assaults she underwent while in Saudi Arabia. Still there were  severe wounds on her legs and back and she is unable to walk;  only limped.   
She was able to return when her husband and relations made complaints about the harassment she was facing in Saudi.   
Finally one day, her employer had dumped her at the airport wearing only in piece of black cloth. She had not been paid for her services either. However she had received a skirt and blouse to wear from a Sri Lankan woman at the airport.   

Her husband Saman Kumara said she was so weak physically and was suffering mentally and that she needed immediate relief.   
W.M. Muthumenika her mother- in- law said the pretty looking daughter who left for Saudi happily was fortunate to have been able to return home.   
Kanchana disclosed the painful happening she experienced in Saudi, the country through  which she expected solutions to the burning economical problems of her family.   
“I had the chance to go to Saudi Arabia through a Job Agency in Kurunegala with the assistance of an uncle. Then my daughter was only four years old. However this hurdle was overcome as the agency provided me with faked documents for a payment
of Rs.25,000.   

In Saudi I worked two months without any problems. But they started when I asked for my wages after two months. The mistress of the house was very cruel. When angry she would hit me with anything in sight’ She crushed my nails and fingers and often beat me on my head with iron spoons; there are some injuries on my head even today. Once they hit me on my face and I nearly lost my sight because of it. Often I was left to stay hungry and thirsty. Whenever I ask for food they pushed me to the ground and trampled my abdomen. I was often beaten by both the master and the mistress of the house. There had been another Sri Lankan woman working in this house before me and nobody knows what had happened to her.”  

“When I wanted to phone home they get my mother’s number and threaten me with a knife to tell them I was treated well and living happily. I could not tell them the real situation I was in. Later I was not allowed to talk to my mother; instead the madam began to speak to my mother directly as my mother  had some knowledge of their language. However my mother had sensed something bad was happening to me and had informed the job agency and arranged to bring me back to Sri Lanka through the Foreign Employment Bureau and
the Embassy.   

She said the employer had paid for her air ticket but that she was not paid her wages.   
“They removed my clothes and gave me a black cloak and dumped me at the airport even without a pair of slippers.” Kanchana said.   
Two Sri Lankan women had given her a skirt and a blouse and slippers to wear. When asked about this incident the head of Uni-Lanka Job Agency in Kurunegala, Mohamed Nawaz said he was unable to tell anything without perusing the relevant documents.