RIYADH: A Sri Lankan housemaid who was found with seven nails in her body following surgery at Dammam Central Hospital refused on Saturday to name who was responsible for inserting them. According to sources, 22-year-old Balsubramaniam Shashikala was admitted to Dammam Central Hospital by her Saudi sponsor with complaints of body pains on Tuesday.

The doctors at the hospital performed surgery on her and found seven nails in her body.

Arab News learned that the Sri Lankan Embassy officials in Riyadh have rushed to the hospital to see where Shashikala went after she was discharged on Sunday morning following the surgery.

The sources said that the embassy had urged police in the Eastern Province to conduct a full-scale inquiry into the case.

The maid had recalled that she was given a sedative by the sponsor's wife and was unable to say what had happened afterwards.

Shashikala told police on Sunday that ever since she came to the Kingdom on August 22, neither her sponsor nor his wife had ill-treated her. The police had summoned the maid and the concerned sponsor for a formal inquiry on Monday morning. The mission has taken the maid into its custody till the case is settled.


Last week the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) paid compensation to a Bahraini national to obtain the release of a Sri Lankan female domestic aide who had falsely accused her employer of torture in Bahrain.

The maid had accused her employer of embedding nails in her body. After the SLBFE officials intervened and put her in the care of an NGO in Bahrain (as Sri Lanka does not have an embassy in the country), she was reported to have retracted the statement.


The Bahraini national had filed a case claiming the domestic aide had slandered him.

“The SLBFE contacted the Bahraini national and paid him money to withdraw the case,” SLBFE Chairman Kingsley Ranawaka said.

The domestic aide, who was brought back to Sri Lanka by the SLBFE on its own expense after paying compensation to the employer, is being treated at Sri Jayawardenapura Hospital in Colombo for stomach pains.

The SLBFE started investigating immediately after the housemaid claimed that she was tortured by her employer. “We sent an officer from Kuwait to attend to the matter,” Ranawaka said.

He said that after the officer transferred her to the NGO, she had been reluctant to press charges against her employer.

“It looked that she had caused a drama to return home,” the chairman said.

Ranawaka said yesterday that as a policy, the SLBFE conducts immediate investigations into such complaints. “Whatever the costs, we will send a qualified doctor to attend to such matters and will take steps to file legal action on behalf of the Sri Lankan migrant worker concerned,” he added.

The chairman said that making false charges would only aggravate the situation and tarnish Sri Lanka’s image. He said that if any Sri Lankan migrant worker needs help, they could approach the bureau anytime, and officials are prepared to help them. (Source: Arab News)