Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention in securing justice for Kasturi Munirathnam, a Tamil domestic worker whose arm was allegedly chopped off by her employer in Saudi Arabia. The victim, hailing from Vellore district, is now in hospital.

Ms. Jayalalithaa expressed concern over the way the Saudi police was trying to protect the employer and deprive the worker of her basic rights. “Recent media reports indicate that the Saudi police are trying to project a picture as though the injuries were suffered while Ms. Kasturi tried to escape from her employer’s home and were not inflicted by the employer and also that her mental condition was not very stable,” she said in her letter.

A report obtained by the State government from the Indian Embassy in Riyadh through the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, however, indicated that Ms. Kasturi had clearly stated that the injuries had been inflicted on her by her employer.

The officials of the Indian Embassy who had interacted with the doctors attending on Ms. Kasturi have stated that her mental condition had been assessed as being “very stable”.

Ms. Jayalalithaa urged the Centre to take all steps to provide the best medical treatment to her and ensure her early and safe return to India.

The Chief Minister has expressed concern over the way the Saudi police are trying to protect the employer and depriving Kasturi of her basic rights