Sri Lankan maid’s death :

Sponsor remanded

The sponsor of a 36-year-old Sri Lankan maid who died in mysterious circumstances in Hofuf, Saudi Arabia in November has been arrested by police who are now waiting for a forensic report from Riyadh to complete investigations.

The maid, Pospawalli Selladurai, died on November 5, 2010, in circumstances that her relatives describe as suspicious.

Her sister, Saroja, who works as a housemaid in Beirut, told Arab News over the phone that Pospawalli’s death is a mystery. She added that the maid completed her two-year contract on November 5, 2009, and was not allowed to return to Sri Lanka until her death.

A senior diplomat from the Sri Lankan Embassy said the mission has been following the case. Pospawalli’s body is kept in a morgue at a government hospital in Hofuf, he said, adding that the authorities are waiting for a report on samples taken from her body from a forensic laboratory in Riyadh. The diplomat said the final report on the cause of the death will be given to the embassy as soon as the medical report arrives from Riyadh. He added that the maid’s sponsor, a Saudi woman, has been remanded in police custody.

Saroja said her sister’s husband died four years ago and that her four children are being cared for by her family. “We want her body to be sent home so that the family can see her,” Saroja said.

Arab News