Mother's fight as daughter faces beheading over baby death

Saving her from beheading has become one of the most urgent issues in a country where nearly everyone has worked abroad or had a relative employed overseas.

Nafeek went to Saudi Arabia two years ago to work as a maid but was given the additional duty of looking after a baby boy, which she was not trained to do. The Sri Lankan Embassy says the infant died on 22 May, 2005, while she was bottle-feeding him.

Nafeek, without a lawyer at trial, had allegedly confessed to her guilt but then recanted, saying her confession was obtained under duress. Human rights groups say the boy's death appeared to be an accident.

The government has sent a delegation including Nafeek's parents and the deputy foreign minister to Saudi Arabia to plead for her life. Activists say the case underscores the vulnerability of Sri Lankans willing to work overseas.

Ranjan Ramanayake, an actor and activist who is a campaigner for the welfare of Sri Lankan migrant workers, accused the government of doing too little to help workers abroad. "The attention paid to this crucial issue is very poor," he said.

Nafeek's mother, Fareena, said that her daughter was forced to go abroad because her family lived in poverty.

"I was shocked to hear that my daughter had been implicated in a murder case as she was very innocent and too young even to think of committing such an act," Fareena said.

"She had written to us several times saying that she had been overworked on a daily basis and she had to get up at three in the morning and work till late at night.

"She also told us in her letters how she was ill-treated and physically abused by her employer. She was supposed to look after the house she worked in and not the children. That was not part of her agreement," she said.

However, Keheliya Rambukwella, Sri Lanka's minister of foreign employment promotion and welfare, said his ministry gives seminars for citizens heading overseas, teaching them about their host country's laws, culture and behaviour. But when they get in trouble, "the law of the land will apply," he said.

About 1.5 million Sri Lankans work abroad, nearly 400,000 of them in Saudi Arabia alone. Together, they earn 1.25 billion. Working as maids or drivers, Sri Lankan workers can earn as much as three or four times their local salaries, and they often send the bulk of their incomes back home.

The death sentence and other incidents have not, however, deterred Sri Lankans from seeking work in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern nations, said Suraj Dandeniya, who heads the organisation that represents Sri Lankan companies recruiting foreign workers.

Poverty forces many to take the jobs, he said, adding, "most of those going to these countries are less-educated, and they find it difficult to obtain well-paid jobs in Sri Lanka".

In Nafeek's case, Sri Lanka filed an appeal on her behalf and the delegation went to Saudi Arabia at the weekend to ask for clemency.

Only a court ruling or a pardon from the child's parents could spare her from being beheaded.