Investigation Launched as Sri Lankan Woman Returns Home After 28 Years of Captivity in Saudi Arabia

COLOMBO (News 1st): The Sri Lankan embassy in Saudi Arabia announced that an investigation is underway regarding a Sri Lankan woman who was reportedly held captive in a house in Saudi Arabia for nearly 28 years.

A senior official said that information related to the case has been formally communicated to Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment.

Egalla Muhandiramlage Kamalawathi, returned to Sri Lanka on September 10, 2024.

She was sent back to Sri Lanka by her employer, with a temporary passport.

Kamalawathi, 75, is a resident of Bandarakoswatte, in Hindagahawewa. She left for employment in Saudi Arabia on May 17, 1995, through a foreign employment agency in the Kuliyapitiya.

After about a year, communication between her family and her broke down which led her son to visit and file a complaint with the Foreign Employment Bureau in 1999, seeking information about his mother.

Kamalawathi was suffering from severe health issues when she was secretly sent back to the country by her employer.

Kamalawathi is currently suffering with memory loss and is unable to walk.

Upon her arrival, she has spent three days at the airport before being taken home by her children on September 13, according to the information she provided.

Kamalawathi's relatives are urging authorities that this matter be investigates and necessary to be taken.