Gulf | Saudi Arabia
Saudi official denies Sri Lankan maid who had nails driven in body was abused
Doctors in Sri Lanka have said they removed 13 nails and five needles from L.G. Ariyawathi after she returned from Saudi Arabia
- AP
- Published: 15:08 September 1, 2010
- Image Credit: Reuters
- An x-ray shows nails in a hand of L.T. Ariyawathi, 49, who returned to Sri Lanka after 5 months as a maid in Saudi Arabia, in a hospital in Matara, 160 km south of Colombo.
Riyadh: A Saudi official has denied a Sri Lankan maid’s allegations that the couple she worked for in the Gulf kingdom hammered nails and needles into her body.
Doctors in Sri Lanka have said they removed 13 nails and five needles from L.G. Ariyawathi after she returned from Saudi Arabia last month. The items had been driven into Ariyawathi's legs and forehead.
But Sa’ad Al Badah, the head of a Saudi government department responsible for foreign workers, told state television Tuesday night that Ariyawathi's allegations are baseless and amount to blackmail.
The 49-year-old Ariyawathi has said the family she worked for in Saudi Arabia punished her by heating the nails and needles before sticking them into her. She worked in the kingdom for five months.
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