Family of domestic worker say she was punished when she tried to escape harassment and torture

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

An Indian maid has claimed her employer in Saudi Arabia cut off her hand in punishment for poor work, after months of mistreatment in the kingdom.



Kashturi Munirathinam, 55, is being treated in a hospital in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, her family told Indian media.



Munirathinam travelled to Saudi Arabia from her home in a rural district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu three months ago to take up a job as a cleaner in a household in the eastern city of Dammam and then in Riyadh. She was to be paid about £150 a month.



“When she tried to escape harassment and torture, her right hand was chopped off by the woman employer. She fell down and sustained serious spinal injuries,” her sister, S Vijayakumari, told local media.

“The incident happened after … she complained about torture and non-payment of wages by her employer. Some neighbours and others took her to hospital,” relatives told the Indian Express newspaper.

“She has now been hospitalised in Riyadh and is in a serious condition, our appeal is please bring her back home immediately and help in her treatment.”

The woman is believed to have suffered spinal injuries in a fall from a balcony. In a video apparently filmed in hospital and uploaded to the internet, she describes the attack and her attempt to flee.

Sushma Swaraj, the Indian foreign minister, issued a statement on Friday about what she called the “chopping of hand of Indian lady”.



“We are very much disturbed over the brutal manner in which Indian lady has been treated in Saudi Arabia,” the statement, on Twitter, said.



Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) This is unacceptable. We have taken this up with Saudi authorities.

Last month, Indian authorities protested after a Saudi diplomat accused of raping two Nepalese nationals in an apartment on the outskirts of the Indian capital left the country citing diplomatic immunity.

There has been no immediate response from Saudi authorities to the latest claim. Indian diplomats said they were liaising with Saudi authorities and had asked for “strict action and severe punishment of the [employer]”.

Millions of migrant workers travel to Saudi Arabia, where most perform menial tasks or physically demanding jobs in sectors such as construction. Most come from poor backgrounds in south or south-east Asia.



The foreign workforce in Saudi Arabia includes hundreds of thousands of male drivers, needed primarily because women in the kingdom are not permitted to drive.



One major problem facing migrant workers in Saudi Arabia is the sponsorship system, which in effect means a domestic worker cannot leave the country without the consent of their employer. Campaigners say this leads to widespread abuse, and conditions close to slavery.

Workers usually surrender their passports to agents or employers and are fearful of local authorities. Reports of abuse by employers are frequent, though authorities have made efforts to improve protection in Saudi Arabia.