Lankan maid ends life six days after arrival in Saudi

Mohammed Rasooldeen in Riyadh

A Sri Lankan maid committed suicide here, six days after her arrival in the Saudi capital, the island’s mission announced yesterday.

Mohamed Riyal Fathima Fazmila, 24, had come to the Kingdom on June 14 and had committed suicide on June 20 by hanging herself in her room.

According to her Saudi sponsor, Abdulaziz Al Khereiji, Fazmila from Marikar Street, Kalutara, bearing passport Number 3679926 was found hanging with her saree tied to the ceiling fan when the sponsor’s wife went to give her breakfast.

“Ever since she came, the maid looked sick and we were trying to make her feel homely since she had come out of her native place for the first time,” the sponsor said, adding that he did not know the family background and her civil status. However, the maid had told her sponsor that she was a divorcee.

In her postmortem, it was revealed that her death was due to hanging. Police also ruled out foul play. Asked whether her next-of-kin would get any compensation from the sponsor, a senior embassy official said her sponsor had incurred a loss of SR 8000 in recruiting her to the Kingdom and there is no case for compensation.

During the last six months, there were six cases of suicide among Sri Lankan domestic workers and half were maids. Around 550,000 out of the one million island’s expatriates are concentrated in the Kingdom and 80 per cent are domestic aides.

Speaking about Fazmila’s death from Colombo, Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Bhaila described it as an unfortunate incident where the sponsor was unnecessarily burdened due to the Maid’s foolish action.

He said the maid’s parents had already given their consent for the maid’s burial in the Kingdom. The Deputy Minister said it will be good to work out a mechanism to monitor the mental health of the maids going for overseas employment.

L.K. Ruhunuge, Deputy General Manager of Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment said relatives of these domestic aides should not send mentally distressed people for overseas employment.

“They should not only be physically fit to work in their overseas stations but also must be mentally apt to adapt themselves to the alien environment”. Ruhunuge said that the repatriation costs of bodies of those who had registered with the SLBFE are usually borne by the bureau.