Lankan housemaid death confirmed

31 January 2011 03:00 am Views - 6742

RIYADH: The autopsy report of a Sri Lankan housemaid who died late last year in the Eastern Province revealed the woman was murdered, according to the Sri Lankan Embassy.

Pospawalli Selladurai, 36, died on Nov. 5, 2010, in mysterious circumstances, and police took her female employer into custody. The authorities were awaiting the forensic report from Riyadh to complete the investigations.

A senior diplomat from the Sri Lankan Embassy told Arab News that his office received on Saturday a copy of the post-mortem report conducted in Riyadh.

The official said the mission has yet to receive the official report, which will be delivered through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“I cannot tell you how she was murdered until we get the detailed report from the ministry,” the diplomat said.

However, he said that the mission was preparing to present the woman's case in the court, which will issue a final verdict in the case.

The repatriation of the body, which has been kept in a morgue in the Eastern Province city of Hofuf, will take place “early next week.”

Selladurai’s sister, Saroja, said on Saturday she was very happy the Saudi government had acted quickly to ascertain the cause of her sister's death.

“My family is thankful to the government and our embassy in Riyadh, which has exerted great effort in my sister's matter to find out the cause of the death,” Saroja said over the phone from Beirut, where she works as a maid.

Selladurai’s husband died four years ago. Her four children are being taken care of by her family back home.