Lankan housemaid severely tortured

By- R. Anurudthan

A woman resident of Vakarai was severely tortured in Saudi Arabia by her employer that left her seriously maimed. She was handed over to her relatives at the Foreign Employment Bureau Office, on Monday. The Victim is Manohary Bawani, a mother of two children who went to Saudi Arabia in June 2003 to work as a housemaid in Damam.

The trouble started when she had asked for her wages after a lapse of two years.

She was hanged upside down and some chemicals put into her eyes. Her hair was set on fire and her ears were burned as a result, she said.“I was burnt with a hot iron rod”, she further said.

She couldn’t communicate with anyone and when she managed to report to the Police, they did nothing other than handing over to the employer following which she was subjected to more torture, Bawani said.

“Finally I was left stranded on the road and the Police who found me sent me to the Sri Lankan embassy, which made arrangement to send me back home” she said.