Maid lands in hospital after five-floor fall from building

Police are investigating a Sri Lankan maid's claims that her sponsor tried to kill her by pushing her from the fifth floor of a building in the city centre.

The maid, who is partially paralysed and slowly recovering from severe brain damage at Abu Dhabi Central Hospital, has accused her sponsor of trying to kill her because she repeatedly asked for her salary.

"She pushed me," 22-year-old Riezwana Kapar said, referring to her sponsor. "I was pushed and now I am like this," she said, pointing to the wheelchair in which she is confined.

"I only wanted my salary." Speaking to Gulf News, Kapar told her story with some difficulty.

On February 26, Kapar was rushed by Khalidiyya Police to Khalifa Hospital after passers-by saw her lying on the ground. She was in serious condition and suffered severe brain damage, but was helped in her recovery by the care shown by the hospital staff.

She spent about three months at Khalifa Hospital, after which she was moved to a general ward at the nearby Central Hospital.

Though the hospital did not disclose the diagnosis, Kapar said she is half-paralysed. The damage to her brain prevents her from talking properly and she has difficulty articulating her thoughts.

Kapar, however, managed with some difficulty to answer questions about her fall. "I was pushed. We were on the fifth floor and I had a fight with my sponsor," she said. "I had asked for my salary and she did not want me to ask about it."

Kapar said she was brought to the UAE by a local recruitment agency and placed with her sponsor. She said she had been working for her sponsor for about eight months.

She was paid for her first month of service, which she sent home to her family in Mahiyangana, Sri Lanka.

With her second-month's salary, she said she bought herself some clothes. After that, she continued working but was never paid again.

"I asked to be paid. She told me I should not ask such a thing again. I insisted several times. The last time I asked her she got angry and she pushed me down from the fifth floor."

According to a source close to the police investigators, the sponsor, whose name has not been released, is claiming that the maid was alone when the accident happened.

Lalith Hettiarachchi, Sri Lankan ambassador to the UAE, said the mission is also following the case. He appealed to Sri Lankans and volunteers to visit Kapar and spend time with her to help in her recovery.

He said Kapar's condition does not allow for her to be flown home at this time. Officers at the Khalidiyya police station were not available for comment.