SL Housemaid suffers severe burns in Saudi Arabia, appeals for help

• She requests authorities to make arrangements for her to return

By Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa 

A Sri Lankan housemaid in Saudi Arabia who was seriously burned with petrol by a woman in the house where she worked is at present detained in a welfare centre. 

The victim Nayana Dilrukshi (45) from Gothatuwa new town narrating her dreadful experience told the media through IMO technology that a woman in the house where she was employed hurled petrol and set her on fire. She said she had a narrow escape from death and that she had been left in a detention centre amid severe hardship after she was discharged from hospital where she had been under treatment for about seven months. 

“I Left for Riyadh in Saudi Arabia on last February 08 through an employment agency in the Kurunegala area. I had to attend to the entire household chores and look after the children. The mistress of the house accused me of lapses in feeding her children properly, hurled petrol and set me on fire. I received serious burn injuries. That woman’s husband who rushed to the scene admitted me to the hospital. I was unconscious for about three days.