An Indian woman had her hand chopped off after she tried to escape her employer’s home in Saudi Arabia.
Kasthuri Munirathinam suffered a catalog of abuse after accepting the position three months ago.
Her female employer cut off her hand after she tried to escape.
The Daily Star reported:
India said Friday it had lodged a protest with authorities in Riyadh after a maid from Tamil Nadu allegedly had her hand chopped off by her Saudi employer for complaining about her work conditions.
India’s foreign minister deplored a “brutal” attack on 55-year-old Kasthuri Munirathinam, who is now being treated at a hospital in Riyadh, and which comes weeks after a Saudi diplomat based in New Delhi fled the country accused of rape.
“Chopping of (the) hand of (an) Indian lady — we are very much disturbed over the brutal manner in which (this) Indian lady has been treated in Saudi Arabia,” Sushma Swaraj said on Twitter.
“This is unacceptable. We have taken this up with Saudi authorities.”
A spokesman for the foreign ministry confirmed that Indian diplomats in Riyadh had lodged a formal complaint at the the Saudi foreign ministry.
Munirathinam, who comes from a village in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, had suffered a catalog of abuse since taking up a post as a domestic worker in Saudi Arabia three months ago, according to her family.
“When she tried to escape harassment and torture, her right hand was chopped off by the woman employer,” her sister S Vijayakumari told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency.
Indian authorities have issued a formal complaint to the Saudi government.