Saudi couple hammer 24 heated nails into maid’s body
Colombo, Sri Lanka: Doctors removed 13 nails and five needles from a Sri Lankan maid who says the couple she worked for in Saudi Arabia tortured her, hammering the objects into her body.
L.G. Ariyahathi, 49, suffered from severe pain and was hospitalized after returning from Saudi Arabia Saturday. Ariyahathi told authorities that the couple she worked for punished her by heating nails and needles before sticking the sharp items into her body.
The detail of an X-ray film shows nails driven into the hand of a Sri Lankan housemaid.
X-rays indicated that she had a total of 24 nails and needles in her body, according to Dr. Keerthi Satharasignhe of Kamburupitiya hospital, about 100 miles outside the capital, Colombo.
The nails removed from Ariyahathi’s legs and forehead ranged in length from one to two inches, while the needles were about one inch long.
A doctors shows a nail extracted from the body of LT Ariyawathi, a Sri Lankan housemaid, who underwent surgery at a hospital in Matara on Friday to remove 24 nails embedded in her body by her Saudi Arabia employer.
According to Satharasinghe, she had six more needles in her hand that could not be removed because operation would risk damaging her nerves and arteries, but the doctor said that they would not be harmful to her.
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Employment Bureau said Ariyawathi feared reporting the horrid abuse to Saudi authorities because she believed her employers would not let her return home.
Ariyawathi traveled to Saudi Arabia to work for the couple in March, but was paid only two months salary, the pair reportedly held the rest of her earnings to buy an plane ticket to send her home, she told the Lakbima newspaper.
“They did not allow me to even rest. The woman at the house had heated the nails and then the man inserted them into my body,” Ariyawathi told the publication.
Approximately 1.5 million Sri Lankans work in overseas to earn higher salaries, nearly 400,000 work in Saudi Arabia alone.
Deputy Minister of Economic Development Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said the government would report the incident to the Saudi government and provide her compensation.
Feel real sorry for her, but find it hard to believe. For one, the pain from having 24 nails in forehead and hands will be unbearable and she will not be able to function at all, the body will be infected and cause extreme illness and even death plus other criteria that make the case very questionable. I could be wrong, but her story doesn’t hold as is and I consider it a false allegations for monetary benefits exploiting the propaganda of maltreatment and abuse of labors working in GCC. Finding out how those nails got in her body is responsibility of the KSA criminal justice system if injuries sustained while she was working there.
Bojasem,
you don’t know what you are talking about and seriously need a reality check. you think a 49 year old woman(a housemaid), who probably lacks a secondary education is capable of concocting a scheme to extort money by ‘exploiting propaganda of maltreatment and abuse in the GCC’?
grow up, keep your theories to yourself and accept the fact that who did this has another thing coming if they think they’re gonna get away with this.
Moderator Edit
@Guy: Please refrain from using any kind of profane or insulting language.
The X ray reports show that nails are in her body. Can she do it by herself. The hospital is a Govt. Hospital where nobody will get any benefit by publishing a fabricared story.
@Moderator Edit Do you read and understand English? What “Profane or Insulting Language”, did “Guy” use??? Please open your eyes, wear reading glasses (if you need) and use a Magnifying Glass to re-read Guy’s comment. You will notice that he did NOT use any kind of Profane or Insulting language at Bojasem.
Anyone else notice anything ???
@Moderator Edit Please, do the above and do publish my post.
Thank you.
@Moderator Please remove your WRONG COMMENT directed to Guy.
There are two things you need to know – 1. His comments were edited and the profane terms were removed before it was approved and published, that is the reason you don’t see anything. 2. Take it easy with your attitude and orders cuz editing and approving comments aren’t only things we do around here, if you know what it means to you!
@Moderator/Ricar
Ok, I apologize. My bad, it didn’t strike me that you’ll might have removed any profanity. Keep up the GOOD WORK and SORRY again.
@Bojasem: read the news here : “http://www.q8nri.com/home/2010/09/01/arrests-made-in-sri-lankan-maids-nail-torture-case/”
Moderator:
what about him mocking our intelligence with his patronising and condescending tone?
he’s the one you should be concerned about, not me
freespeech: thanks for sticking up for me though
bojasem :
Are you writing just to see your name in print? Can’t you think logically that she could have put one or two nails in her but not 23+ and in all those vague places?