New born baby found dead in washing machine

Lankan housemaid to be arrested in Kuwait



In a sensational story splashed in Kuwaiti newspapers, a new born baby was found killed in a washing machine allegedly by her Sri Lankan mother who works as a housemaid in Kuwait, the Foreign Employment Bureau said yesterday.

FEB Deputy General Manager L.K. Ruhunage told the Daily Mirror the tragedy which took place on March 31 had come to light when the woman’s employer admitted her to hospital because the housemaid had complained of heavy bleeding.

The doctors’ examination revealed the shocking news that the bleeding occurred after the woman’s body had been subjected to some form of confinement such as pregnancy, Mr. Ruhunage said.

However the employer informed the hospital that she had not seen any signs of pregnancy on her employee. This aroused suspicion and a police team was despatched to the house for investigation.

“After a forty minute investigation, the police had discovered an infant’s body, wrapped in thick bandage inside a washing machine in the house,”, Mr. Ruhunage said.

He said the story and pictures relating to the tragedy had been splashed in the Kuwaiti newspaper ‘Alanba’, which displayed a police officer holding the dead infant.

The 38 year old woman who is now receiving treatment at a hospital will be taken into police custody after she is discharged. The Sri Lankan Embassy in Kuwait has been instructed to assist the woman in matters relating to legal aid, translation and documentation.

Meanwhile the Sri Lankan Foreign Employment Bureau is on the search for the family and relatives of the suspect who had migrated to Kuwait last year.