Another 'nailed' housemaid returns

Suraj A Bandara

Another housemaid working in Kuwait returned to the island with 14 nails embedded in her body.

Doctors found around 14 nails hammered into her body. Several had been removed after a surgery at the Kurunegala Base hospital. The woman Lechchami, 38, had been admitted to hospital November 9 after complaining of pains. She had said that she had become unconscious after taking a drink given to her forcibly.

When she became conscious, she found that the nails had been hammered into her body.

Lechchami, a resident of Ibbagamuwa had gone to Kuwait through an agency in Kurunegala. The police and the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau are conducting an inquiry.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau Chairman, Kingsley Ranawake told the Daily News she had complained of the alleged torture only after returning to the island.

"Action could have been taken if she complained from Kuwait," he said. T. Ariyawathi working in Saudi Arabia returned to the country in August with 23 nails embedded in her body.