Ad Dawadimi town in Riyadh Province is home to a sparkling new airport and is also known for its beautiful King Abdulaziz Royal Palace. At 11.40 am on the 9th of January, 2013, the little-known town sprang into global consciousness. A 24-year-old maid from Sri Lanka, RIZANA NAFEEK was put to the sword. She was executed by beheading for a homicide which she argued was not intentional. She insisted that her initial confession was made under duress and without any form of language support. She did not have access to a lawyer but the Saudis have defended the execution saying the rights of the bereaved family have to be protected and justice done.

Born on the 4th of February, 1988, she grew up in a poverty-stricken Muslim home in the east of Sri Lanka (which itself is also a very poor nation). As a result of the crushing poverty, she had to stop schooling in her early teenage years.

In search of a greener pasture, she migrated to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 4th May 2005 at the age of 17. Her passport was forged to give her a new birth year (1982) since she would be too young to be recruited in Sri Lanka to work abroad. She got a job as a domestic servant in the town, not too far from the capital city of Riyadh. On 22nd May, 2005, the four-month-old child of her employer died while in her care. According to Nafeek, the baby choked on a bottle by accident during feeding. However, the baby's parents and the Saudi Police insisted she was responsible and guilty of murder.

Thrown into jail, she was sentenced to death on the 16th of June, 2007. The President of Sri Lanka, Mahindra Rajappaksa personally requested twice for a pardon from the King of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah on her behalf but to no avail. Other bodies across the globe made spirited attempts to free her. A few days ago, she was beheaded in the oil-rich desert kingdom founded in 1932.

As expected, the Sri Lankan media is not taking it cool while the government officials of the country have also lashed out at the rulers of the kingdom. A member of the opposition party, Ranjan Ramanaye even went as far as calling them 'dictators' who only pick on the poor citizens of Asia and Africa and never execute citizens of rich nations of Europe and North America. Her case generated so much interest across the globe because international laws prohibit the death penalty for crimes committed before the age of 18. She worked in the household of Saudi national, Naif Jiziyan Khalaf Al-Otaybi who worked at the Saudi Arabian Finance Ministry. She was supervised by his wife, whom she called 'Madam'.

Only four countries in the world carry out public beheadings: Saudi Arabia, Yemen, North Korea and Syria. At any rate, Saudi homes are very much dependent on poor girls from nations like Indonesia, the Philippines and Pakistan for domestic chores. But on many occasions, some of these maids have been subjected to horrendous torture and treatment in the hands of their masters. Poverty is a BASTARD, I always say that.

In Saudi Arabia, the death penalty is allowed for the following crimes:
Adultery (Unmarried adulterers can be sentenced to 100 lashes, married ones can be sentenced to stoning.)
Apostasy (Apostates are sentenced to beheading but are usually given three days to repent and return to Islam.)
Armed robbery
Blasphemy
Carjacking
Drug smuggling
Fornication
Home invasion
Homosexuality if a person is sodomized by his or her own consent, then he/she might also be sentenced to death)
Idolatry
Murder
Prostitution
Rape
Sedition
Sexual misconduct
Sorcery
Terrorism
Theft (fourth conviction)
Treason
Waging war on God
Witchcraft

Thanks for your time.
Iyaniwura.
http://iyaniwura.com/24-year-old-sri-lankan-maid-beheaded-in-saudi-arabia/

Wicked people..wicked kingdom. And yet they could marry underaged girls..is that not a crime? I imagined if the girl was a saudi national would she be executed?