I’m not a big fan of Lex Talionis, an-eye-for-an-eye, and thus would not make a very good Saudi. The Saudi legal system falls back on that form of retributive justice more than I care for. In the case of the Sri Lankan maid who returned from her job in Riyadh with at least 19 nails embedded in her body, allegedly put there by her Saudi employers, I might make an exception.
Photo: Arab News
Lankan officials seek justice for maid in nails & needles case
MOHAMMED RASOOLDEEN, ARAB NEWSRIYADH: Sri Lankan officials strongly urged authorities in Saudi Arabia on Friday to investigate and bring to justice the persons responsible for torturing L.T. Ariyawathi, a 49-year-old Sri Lankan housemaid by heating up nails and needles and pushing them into her legs, arms, hands and forehead.
The maid said the Saudi couple she worked for in a Riyadh household committed the crime as a form of punishment. The couple has not been identified and Saudi officials were not available for comment on Friday.
Lankan Justice Ministry sources told Arab News on Friday that legal counsel would be provided to the maid to file a case in Saudi Arabia over the incident.
“The Bureau (of Foreign Employment) will make all arrangements to take her to Saudi Arabia to testify,” said L.K. Ruhunuge of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment.
…
I do not think this behavior typical of Saudis or Saudi employers of domestic workers: this act is singularly depraved. But the Saudi system for employing foreign domestic workers does not do nearly enough to protect those workers. Other aspects of Saudi society—primarily, privacy within one’s own home, but also a disdain for foreigners, women, and non-Muslims—make the situation worse. With this worker now back in Sri Lanka, conducting a full investigation into the case will be difficult and will rely on the good will of Saudi authorities. I truly do hope they step up. It’s not just the employer(s) who are shamed by this crime, but the whole of Saudi society. It’s seen internationally as ‘just another example of Saudi brutality’.
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August:30:2010 - 05:54
Of course this behaviour is very atypical for our society.
However, it should be stated that the clerical establishment does support disdain for these workers, many of whom are also Muslims.
Such disdain and contempt will be twisted by a small number of individuals into sadistic actions.
We should examine our society for whether contempt for these workers, many of whom are poor and vulnerable, is truly in keeping with the teachings of the Rasulullah.
Too many of those in our clerical establishment believe it to be.
August:30:2010 - 08:20
This has surfaced in Tribune Bahrain for the past days. I am wondering how the sponsee’s government is going to procede with this matter. Indeed, it is not often it happens but scary nontheless.
August:31:2010 - 21:30
I’ve been following this Arab News story closely over the past few days. It is receiving massive Comments on the website. Many Saudis express disbelief that abuse such as this exists.
I posted a few Comments of quotes from BBC News from as far back as 2001. There revealed, without my opinion attached, was evidence that the runaway maids issue is certainly more common than has been indicated in the Saudi media.
Imagine my shock a reading less than 24 hours later a published Comment from Seaad”: “if I have the chance I would have torture J Braun”.
September:06:2010 - 05:24
What if the maid did it to herself? I know that sounds awful to say, but it’s a possibility. Domestic workers have done worse to get out of their crappy situations, not only maltreatment, non-payment but also because they go into debt PAYING for the privilege of working in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere! Abuse clearly happens, and because Saudi does little to solve this endemic problem, they’re going to suffer in the court of world opinion, which will always err on the side of the victim. But it’s also not unreasonable to imagine some workers inflicting self-abuse in order to get out and compensated. Maids jump out of windows, laborers have hung themselves — with those desperate measures, pushing needles into safe parts of the body could have been self-inflicted. The Saudi reputation on domestic-worker treatment is so bad that the media will always come to the same conclusion in cases like this. And perhaps they deserve it, no matter what happened in this case.
To be honest, journalism shouldn’t be passing any judgment as of yet anyway. But the media has already decided that this is a case of a Saudi sponsor pushing needles into a maid as punishment — another maid-abuse story for the docket. To me that seems irresponsible and antithetical to “just reporting the facts of the case.”
Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia needs to do more to protect domestic workers. And until they do, they must also face the reality that whether this is another case of maid mistreatment, or if it’s a case of a maid resorting to desperate measures (the Lankan has said they will build the woman a house, and she may still be compensated further) the Saudi reputation in this regard is so bad that when this stuff happens we will all presume the most likely scenario: that the maid was sadistically tortured.
Saudi Arabia could start by not protecting the identities of Saudis involved in cases like this. When stuff like this happens — and especially if a guilty verdict is issued and compensation is paid — those found guilty of those crimes should have their pictures published on the front pages of every newspaper in the country, including full names and detailed descriptions of their crimes. (As well as, of course, sentencing and compensation.)
A little “publicizing” of the names and faces of Saudi perps would do a lot to sent out the message that this maid-abuse thing is harming the reputation of the country and will no longer be tolerated.