Protests rage over death of Rizana Nafeek who was only 17 when the child died in 2005 London – Amna Bagadi Saudi Arabia has executed a Sri Lankan maid for killing a four month old baby in her care in 2005. Rizana Nafeek had always denied the charge. The Sri Lankan government and human rights bodies had called for the execution to be held off. The housemaid was employed for less than six weeks in 2005 when she was accused by her Saudi employer for allegedly killing their infant while she was bottle feeding.She was sentenced to death in 2007.
According to the Asian Tribune the Sri Lankan government pursued all avenues to have Rizana Nafeek released from death row and sent several senior ministerial delegations to Saudi Arabia. A Sri Lankan MP who campaigns for Sri Lankan workers abroad, Ranjan Ramanayake, described the Saudi government as "dictators" who would never execute Europeans or Americans, only Asians and Africans. "President Rajapakse and the government deplore the execution of Rizana Nafeek despite all efforts at the highest level of the government and the outcry of the people locally and internationally,"
the ministry said.
The parents of Ms Nafeek had repeatedly appealed to King Abdullah to pardon her. Her father is currently in hospital, officials say, and her mother is too distressed to talk about the execution.
Human Rights Watch said that Nafeek, who was only 17 when the child died in 2005, had retracted "a confession that she said was made under duress, and says that the baby died in a choking accident while drinking from a bottle."
"In executing Rizana Nafeek, Saudi authorities demonstrated callous disregard for basic humanity as well as Saudi Arabia's international legal obligations," the New York-based watchdog's senior women's rights researcher, Nisha Varia, said.