Jordan maid case:

SLBFE awaits medical reports

Chamikara Weerasinghe

The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) awaits medical reports from Jordan regarding a case where a Sri Lankan housemaid is said to have been forced to swallow six wire nails by her employer as punishment for failing in her work.

The Bureau's General Manager H Batagoda said they have learned about a complaint in this regard to have been made to the Sri Lanka Embassy in Amman, but they need to have medical reports from doctors to verify its authenticity.

"We will decide on the next step after we get a full report, " he said.

Requesting the media to be careful so as not to get carried away with constant "torture" complaints by housemaids without proper medical evidence to support them, Batagoda pointed out that the complaints of the nature should be handled with extreme care for they could have adverse effects on bilateral ties.

Of about 1.8 million Sri Lankans employed abroad 70 percent are women. Most of them housemaids in the Middle-East.