Sri Lankan Embassy pursues abuse case
Complaint by housemaid is first to win official support Nada Raad
Daily Star staff
The Sri Lankan Embassy in Lebanon is carrying through with
a first-ever legal complaint against a Lebanese sponsor, who is being held responsible for
a relative’s alleged burning and beating of a housemaid.
Following numerous reports of human rights violations against Sri Lankan workers here, the
case marks the embassy’s first attempt to curb physical abuse of its nationals
through legal means.
Gamini Perera, the embassy’s employment and welfare counsellor, told The Daily Star
that a report was sent to Beirut’s public prosecutor and a case will be filed against
Layla Homsi, the sponsor of Kalubandage Ysawathi. On Jan. 27, the housemaid came to the
embassy and said that 10 days earlier, she had been subjected to physical harassment by
her employer.
Perera said that although Homsi was not responsible for the abuse, as Ysawathi works for
her daughter-in-law, the case will still be filed against her, and she will have to
justify herself during the court sessions.
Homsi’s daughter-in-law, who was not named, is accused of assaulting Ysawathi,
according to the counsellor.
“The embassy has issued a report explaining that Homsi was only the sponsor and not
the person who committed the violations,” Perera said, adding that making a housemaid
work for people other than the sponsor is “illegal and should be controlled.”
Perera said the incident occurred when Ysawathi received a letter from her family and was
informed that her son had died. The housemaid asked her employer to travel to Sri Lanka to
attend her son’s funeral, but the employer refused, began beating her and pouring
boiling water on her, Perera said.
He added that after the case was brought to the embassy, the Homsi family proposed to pay
Ysawathi $400 for her four unpaid months and another $400 in damages, but the prosecutor
refused the offer and decided to start the prosecution next week.
According to a report prepared by the legal doctor, Hussein Ali Chahrour, the burns, which
were diagnosed as being second degree, cover 12 percent of Ysawathi’s body.
The report added that her burns were not “accidental, as they are on different parts
of the body, such as her breast, face and hands, and occurred when the victim was still
wearing her clothes.”
Ysawathi was recommended by the doctor to rest for a month, and was asked to remain in
Lebanon until a verdict is issued in the case, Perera said.
A source, who wished to be anonymous, told The Daily Star that it is the first time the
embassy had filed a legal complaint, claiming that previously Sri Lankan officials had
been paid off and “were not concerned about protecting their nationals.”
The source added that the embassy was prepared to accept the $800 settlement proposed by
the Homsi family, and that it was the public prosecutor who refused it.
Public prosecutors have filed many complaints against people for physically harassing Sri
Lankan workers here, as it is responsible for protecting human rights regardless of the
victim’s or violator’s identity, the source said.
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