Three migrant workers of same family allegedly killed in Qatar

The bodies of three Sri Lankan migrant workers of the same family who are alleged to have been killed in Qatar were brought back to Sri Lanka today, Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB) said.

A mother (55), a father (58) and their 34-year-old daughter, all residents of Kelaniya, were found with their throats slashed on March 1 in their home in Qatar.

Airport officials said the bodies of the slain family members were repatriated along with the bodies of four other Sri Lankan migrant workers including a woman. The SLFEB told Daily Mirror that among these four, three are said to have died of heart ailments while the fourth had allegedly committed suicide.

SLFEB spokesperson Mangala Randeniya said all the seven deaths including that of the suspected triple killing had been reported during past few months, but the repatriation process was delayed due to the COVID-19-induced air travel restrictions.

A Sri Lankan driver who had been working in the house of the three slain family members has been reported missing since the deaths and he is the main suspect in the case, Mr. Randeniya said, adding that the police were still trying to locate the suspect.

“An investigation into the suspected murder is currently being conducted by the Qatar government. Once the investigation is over, they will send a detailed report to the Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs Ministry. Further, the Sri Lankan government bore the expenses of bringing back the bodies of Sri Lankan workers who had died due to various reasons,” he said.

Speaking to the media, Niroshani, a daughter of the slain couple allegedly, said a postmortem examination should be conducted because she wanted to know what happened to her parents. “I was informed about their deaths on March 6. I didn’t want their final rites to be performed in Qatar. We are a peaceful family. I demand justice for them,” she said.

Another distant family member who had accompanied Niroshani to the airport to claim the bodies, told the media that valuable belongings of the three family members including gold jewellery and passports which were at their home in Qatar had also gone missing since the killing.(Piyumi Fonseka and Prasad Muthukuda

Video by Prasad Mutukuda