Saudi police awaiting forensic report in Sri Lankan maid’s death

The sponsor of a 36-year-old Sri Lankan maid who died in mysterious circumstances in Hofuf, the Eastern Province, in November has been arrested by police who are now waiting for a forensic report from Riyadh to complete investigations.

The maid, Pospawalli Selladurai, died on Nov. 5, 2010, in circumstances that her relatives describe as suspicious.

Her sister, Saroja, who works as a housemaid in Beirut, told Arab News over the phone that Pospawalli’s death is a mystery. She added that the maid completed her two-year contact on Nov. 5, 2009, and was not allowed to return to Sri Lanka until her death.

A senior diplomat from the Sri Lankan Embassy said the mission has been following the case. Pospawalli’s body is kept in a morgue at a government hospital in Hofuf, he said, adding that the authorities are waiting for a report on samples taken from her body from a forensic laboratory in Riyadh.

The diplomat said the final report on the cause of the death will be given to the embassy as soon as the medical report arrives from Riyadh. He added that the maid’s sponsor, a Saudi woman, has been remanded in police custody.

Saroja said her sister’s husband died four years ago and that her four children are being cared for by her family. “We want her body to be sent home so that the family can see her,” said Saroja.

She added that her sister’s children — Suvaruban, Devika, Dinesh and Dilrukshan — are aged between 13 and 6. “We will be happy if someone helps this family for the children to continue their education,” she said.

“A few years ago, Pospawalli was a happily married woman with four children. When her husband died in 2005, she struggled to make ends meet. After a couple of years she decided to start working to pay for her children’s school fees. This is when she turned to an agency in Sri Lanka to be sent abroad as a domestic worker. In November 2007, she signed a two-year contract with the agency to work in Saudi Arabia for a family in Dammam,” she said.

“Pospawalli told us she was located far from the Saudi capital, around five hours drive from Riyadh. She often told us that the family she was working for had no landline in their summer home. It was impossible to call or receive calls for a long time. Our parents took care of her children while she was away and she would send her salary to them,” she said.

“We are all manual workers and earn low wages. We cannot afford to fly to Saudi Arabia or hire a lawyer. We simply do not have the money to do so. Some kind-hearted people could help us,” said Saroja, Arab News reports.