Sri Lankan woman's torture case nailed down

Oriana Robertson
9/3/2010
2:38 pm

Eighteen nails and four metal particles have been removed from a Sri Lankan maid’s arms, legs, and forehead after her Saudi Arabian employers allegedly hammered the metal into her body. After forty-nine-year-old L.T. Ariyawathi complained that she was being overworked and could not understand the couple’s needs, this cruel form of torture ensued, resulting in hours of surgery to remove the objects lodged underneath her muscles and skin.

The couple was arrested in their hometown of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this week; however, the action was not confirmed. The couple’s names have not yet been released. Saudi officials could not be reached; however, Sri Lankan officials have pounced on the investigation, forwarding statements upon statements to the Saudi government. Ariyawathi is in a stable condition and has also made statements to be forwarded to officials of Saudi Arabia. Saudi officials, such as Saad Al-Baddah, chairman of the Saudi Arabian National Recruitment Committee, have even gone so far as to refute Ariyawathi’s accusations claiming them, “baseless and [that] the whole episode looks like one big drama.”

Despite the controversial outlooks, and ‘drama,’ Ariyawathi has still been badly injured. She is among the many poor, migrant Asian women stemming from Sri Lanka, India, the Philippines, and Indonesia who work domestically to earn their living. The Human Rights Watch Report confirms that widespread abuse, long working hours, heavy debt burdens and fees, and unpaid wages continue to be documented by a growing number of global human rights groups.

The problems attached to migrant workers are largely due to the immense social stratification and lack of proper interaction and communication between workers and employers. If employees had better means of education, they would be able to communicate clearly any fluctuations with wages and other money related issues; they might even be able to escape the realms of migrant working altogether.


http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/09/01/sri.lanka.maid.assault/

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article122855.ece?comments=all