Body of housemaid brought home

Mohammed RASOOLDEEN in Riyadh

The body of a housemaid murdered in Saudi Arabiaby her sponsor was dispatched to Colombo on Tuesday, the Sri Lankan Embassy told the Daily News, Tuesday.

The initial Post-mortem report of Sri Lankan maid Pospawalli Selladurai, 36, revealed last week that she was murdered. On suspicion, the police in Al-Jouf, 1,200 kms from the capital, arrested the woman sponsor and has kept her in their custody till the investigations are over.

Confirming it's a murder, a senior diplomat from the Sri Lankan embassy told the Daily News that the mission is still unaware as to how she was murdered. "We are waiting for the detailed post-mortem report which will be released by the Police shortly through the Saudi Foreign Ministry."

The official said the Mission has been following the case from the time of Selladurai's death on November 5 . "We are thankful to the Saudi authorities, who extended their fullest cooperation in this case which helped the mission to bring the body home within three months from the day of the tragedy ," the diplomat said.

He said the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) which looks after the welfare of the island's overseas workers has been coordinating with Selladurai's family for the body to be taken home from the Colombo Airport to fulfill the last rites.

Selladurai's four children Suvaruban, Devika, Dinesh and Dilrukshan whose ages range from 6 to 13 years live with the parents of the deceased in her hometown in Kandy. Her husband died in 2005. This is when she turned to an agency in Sri Lanka to be sent abroad as a domestic worker. In November 2007, she signed a two year contract with the agency to work in Saudi Arabia for a family residing in Dammam. "