SL woman held in Saudi mansion by force

6 September 2015 01:29 pm

Chilling details of a Sri Lankan female migrant worker who has been detained by her employer in Saudi Arabia has come to light, as the victim’s daughter seeks government intervention to ensure her mother’s release.

The victim, S. Wasanthi – a 46 year-old mother of three, had migrated to Saudi Arabia as a domestic worker for the third time on February 27. In March, her daughter R. Jayarani had received a call from Wasanthi, who had complained about the employer’s abuse.

“During the brief phone conversation, she told me she was being assaulted both verbally and physically. Thereafter on May 1, while I was in hospital to deliver my baby, my mother phoned me again and told me she suffered injuries and was hospitalised after she attempted to flee from the employer’s residence,” she said.

According to Jayarani, following two days of treatment at a hospital, the Saudi law enforcement authorities had reassigned her to return to her abusive employer despite her pleas to be taken to the Sri Lankan mission in KSA.

Jayarani had not received a call from her mother until two weeks ago.

“She spoke to me for less than two minutes. She sounded agitated and cried . . . she told me she was severely beaten and one arm was paralyzed as a result. Her hair had been cut off and said she was being kept locked up in a room in the employer’s mansion with no food or water for days,” the aggrieved daughter told Daily Mirror.

Since then, Jayarani says she has visited the employment agency through which her mother migrated, the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission and the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau in seeking assistance to locate her mother and seek her release. So far none of the agencies have responded to Jayarani concerning the progress on complaints she lodged regarding her mother’s plight.

“I lodged a complained with the HRC on August 19. They informed that they would respond within two weeks but I still haven’t received a reply,” Jayarani said while adding, “Since our father abandoned our family, it was my mother who worked hard to put food on the table. She migrated to ensure our futures were stable. I wish for my mother’s return and I plead from the government to intervene in this matter and ensure my mother’s safe return. . .” (Lakna Paranamanna)