(COLOMBO) – The Sri Lankan authorities on Thursday began investigating alleged torture claims by a female domestic worker that she had been forced to swallow metal screws by her Arab employer in Saudi Arabia apart from other harassments.
The woman identified only as Darshani and a mother of three returned to the country on Wednesday night where she was united with her husband and family.
According to a senior official with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) the woman had been recruited by a licensed foreign employment agency and had travelled to Saudi Arabia several months ago.
She also alleged that the recruitment agency in Colombo had verbally abused her when she had complained about her plight at the employer’s home.
The SLBFE officials however said that the woman’s allegations will have to be investigated from more than one side both in Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia to ascertain the authencity of her claims.
He cautioned that there have been similar complaints in the past from female domestics returning from West Asia that had turned out to be fabricated simply because their sole intent was to return home owing to many reasons such as loneliness, domestic family issues and so on thereby placing their sponsor and employer in poor light.
An Arab employer has to pay something like Rs 1.5 million and adhere to a contract before he/she could hire a domestic worker from Sri Lanka, the official explained.
“On that note it would not be fair by the employer if the claims were fabricated.
But, if it did indeed happen then necessary action will be taken against the recruiting agent and the employer where redress will be sought in the form of monetary compensation and so on”, the official said.
