Murdered maid’s body to be repatriated today
February 23, 2011 08:35 am
The body of a Sri Lankan maid allegedly murdered by her sponsor in the Kingdom will be repatriated home on Wednesday, the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh said.
An initial post-mortem report on 36-year-old Pospawalli Selladurai’s body last week suggested that she was murdered.
Police in Al-Jouf, 1,200 km from Riyadh, arrested the victim’s woman sponsor and is still holding her in custody until investigations are over.
A senior diplomat from the Sri Lankan Embassy told Arab News that the mission is still unaware of how Selladurai was killed. “We are waiting for a detailed autopsy report that will be released by the police shortly through the Saudi Foreign Ministry.”
The official said the mission has been following the case since Selladurai’s death on Nov. 5.
“We are thankful to the Saudi authorities, who extended their fullest cooperation in this case. It helped the mission repatriate the body home in deference to the wishes of her kin within three months of the tragedy,” the diplomat said.
He said the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment, which looks after the welfare of the island nation’s overseas workers, has been coordinating with Selladurai’s family in Sri Lanka. It will pay a substantial compensation to the family to help provide for her four children, the diplomat said.
The four children, Suvaruban, Devika, Dinesh and Dilrukshan, aged between six and 13, live with their mother’s parents in her hometown Kandy, Arab News reports.
