Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that Kasturi Munirathnam, whose hand was chopped off by her employer in Saudi Arabia, gets the best medical care, adequate financial compensation and her safe return to India.
The Pioneer had reported that Kasturi, who hailed from Vellore in Tamil Nadu and was working as a domestic help in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, had her hand chopped off by her employer following her complaining to the Government authorities about the ill-treatment meted out to her.
“I write to seek your personal intervention in the matter pertaining to the brutal attack on a poor female household worker in Saudi Arabia, Kasthuri Munirathnam, who hails from Vellore District in Tamil Nadu. As you may be aware, Ms Kasthuri has suffered grievous injuries, including a severed arm. Her life is reportedly at risk,” Jayalalithaa has said in her letter.
Jayalalithaa said though the Indian Embassy officials after their interaction with the doctors treating Kasturi had confirmed that her mental condition is ‘very stable’ in spite of the gruesome attack on her by her employer, reports indicated that the Saudi Police was trying to project a picture as though the injuries were suffered while 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.
“There is an apprehension that there could be an attempt to protect her local employers and deprive the poor domestic worker of even her basic human rights. Kasturi had gone to Saudi Arabia to eke out a living and to support her family. Considering the circumstances of her case, the Government of India should take all steps to provide the best medical treatment to her and ensure her early and safe return to India. During the period of her stay in Saudi Arabia adequate security also needs to be provided to her,” Jayalalithaa has requested in her letter to the Prime Minister, excerpts of which were released to the media on Saturday.