'Abused' Lankan maid suffers hearing loss

A Sri Lankan maid in Muscat claims to have lost hearing ability in her right ear after her sponsor allegedly "tortured"�her for demanding her wages.

Mulia Nona, the 45-year-old maid, fled from the sponsor's house and took shelter at the embassy following the incident in October 2012.

"We immediately admitted her to a private hospital and later shifted her to the government hospital," Sri Lankan Embassy in Muscat Labour Counsellor M M Deshapriya said.

The maid, working at her sponsor's house since October 18, 2011, alleged that she was "treated like an animal" and also showed her friends the injuries she suffered from "years of maltreatment" while working as a housemaid.

"Her face and arms were still swollen when I saw her last time," a friend said.

The maid told her that she was wounded after being hit on the head with a sharp object, and later, the sponsor punched her in the ears, which caused hearing loss.

"Following the complaint, we called her sponsor where he agreed to settle her medical bills,"�Deshapriya said.

Mulia informed her friends about being hit on the arm with a hard object she was working with in the kitchen. In another incident, her sponsor slapped her across her right ear.

"Such incidents are very rare in Oman as most of the sponsors take care of the housemaids,"� Deshapriya said.

After taking shelter in the hospital, Mulia underwent an X-ray and a CT scan at a private hospital and at Royal Hospital where an "internal injury" was detected near her right ear.

Deshapriya said the embassy has started blacklisting the housemaids and migrant workers who have been convicted of crimes in Oman since September 2012.

"With the proposed blacklisting, these workers would be prohibited from obtaining foreign employment not only in Oman but throughout the GCC countries, and they could minimise the number of issues surfacing in these countries relating to migrant workers," he added.

There are some 40 registered recruitment agencies in Oman recruiting labourers and housemaids from Sri Lanka.

"The embassy is regularly working with Omani authorities to prevent the abuse of Sri Lankan workers by their employers," Deshapriya said.

Courtesy: Times of Oman