Sri Lankan gets one year jail and 100 lashes
A Sri Lankan domestic worker was sentenced to one year in jail and
100 lashes following a conviction for practising black magic among his
friends in Riyadh.Sri Lankan Embassy sources said the accused was
Premanath Pereralage Thungasiri, who was working as a house driver in a
Saudi home.
An embassy official, who had met Thungasiri in jail, said that
Thungasiri had been booked by police in the Ummul Hammam district on
charges of black magic and for violating local regulations by meeting an
unknown woman, which is against Saudi law.
The arrest was made in May when Thungasiri had visited another
Saudi's house to resolve a dispute involving a housemaid there. He said
the maid was his relative, and during the dispute police arrested
him.Thungasiri has a wife, daughter and son at home in Padiyatalawe, 200
kilometers from Colombo. According to a jail official, Thungasiri will
complete the one-year jail term this May. Thungasiri's name has been
listed in the amnesty list and if the clemency is given early, there are
chances for him to be deported home even before his scheduled release.
The Sri Lankan Embassy is yet to receive the copy of the official
court verdict on Thungasiri's judgment through the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. Prior to the verdict, Thungasiri said in a statement to the
embassy that his Saudi sponsor had nothing to do with the case, and had
surrendered his passport and other documents to prison authorities for
his deportation.
The organisation accused the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment
of not educating Sri Lankan workers travelling to Saudi Arabia on the
country's religious laws. The diplomat also stressed millions of foreign
workers who come to the Kingdom for employment are expected to abide by
the host country's regulations.
- Arab News
|
