Maids Being Tortured in Saudi Arabia

Though it’s no secret that life is often brutally difficult for maids working in Saudi Arabia, a new wave of atrocities has stirred outrage in the victims’ home countries and has trained a spotlight on Saudi Arabia’s failure to protect foreign workers.

Saudi Couple Hammers Nails Into Sri Lankan Housemaid

In August, a 49-year-old Sri Lankan woman, Lahadapurage Daneris Ariyawathie, returned to her home after working as a housemaid in Saudi Arabia. When she arrived, her children immediately realized she was in terrible pain and took her to a doctor. She told him the couple she worked for had hammered hot nails and pins into her hands, legs, and forehead when she told them she needed to rest. X-rays showed 24 nails embedded in her body.

After the case was publicized and Sri Lankan government officials demanded the Saudi government take action, CNN reported a Saudi couple had been arrested for the torture. The government also reportedly considered suspending the recruitment of Sri Lankan maids, though they denied there was any connection to this case. However, while the government seemed to be making concessions, the head of Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Workers’ Committee of the Saudi Chamber of Commerce told Arabic-language news organization Al Arabiya that Ariyawathie’s allegations were “absolutely baseless and illogical.” He did not -- presumably he could not -- explain why there very clearly were pins and nails in her body.

Doctors have removed most of the nails and metal fragments, and plan to operate to remove the rest of the nails at a future time.

Indonesian Maid Subjected To “Extraordinary Torture”

Indonesian authorities say twenty-three year old Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa, an Indonesian woman working as a maid in Saudi Arabia, was tortured by her employers. They allegedly burned her with an iron, beat her severely, and cut her face and lips with scissors. (She will require extensive plastic surgery, and not just for cosmetic reasons -- in the pictures accompanying the linked articles, you can see that pieces of her face have actually been cut away.) On November 6th when she was admitted to a hospital in Medina, where she is currently recovering, a doctor who treated her said she was "wounded from head to toe." Another hospital worker told the Saudi Gazette that Sumiata's body bore the marks of numerous old wounds, and her bloodwork showed she may have suffered malnutrition or serious blood loss.

Indonesian authorities, including the president, have called for justice, but so far there has been no news of arrests.

Indonesian Maid Murdered

According to Indonesia’s minister of labor, via BBC News, when Kikim Komalasari’s body was found on November 11th her neck was slashed and she had severe cuts all over her body. The 36-year-old Indonesian woman worked as a maid in Saudi Arabia. Her employer allegedly murdered her and dumped her body on a roadside.

Indonesia’s president said the killing was “beyond inhumane” but that the Saudi government was taking action and he was “hopeful the perpetrators will be punished according to law.”...

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Laura Smith-Gary @'Care2'