AFP/Colombo
Saudi Arabia beheaded a Sri Lankan maid yesterday after she was convicted of murdering her employer’s baby, drawing sharp condemnation from Colombo which had repeatedly urged a stay of execution.
Human rights groups too expressed condemnation, noting that Rizana Nafeek had been just 17 at the time of the offence and that Saudi Arabia was just three countries in the world to impose the death penalty for crimes committed as a minor.
Nafeek was found guilty of smothering the infant to death after an argument with the child’s mother, her employer, the Saudi interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.
She was beheaded in the Dawadmi province near the capital Riyadh.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse condemned the execution while lawmakers observed a minute’s silence during yesterday’s sessions as parliament was told the execution went ahead even as Colombo tried to send a delegation to Saudi Arabia to plead for mercy.
“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.
Rajapakse had made another appeal for the maid’s life last week.
Under the system of ‘qisas’ (retaliation) that governs murder cases in Saudi Arabia, the baby’s parents may still grant Nafeek a pardon or seek blood money in compensation.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) 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.”
HRW “opposes the death penalty in all circumstances because of its inherent cruelty and finality,” the watchdog said.
“Given the possibility of mistakes in any criminal justice system, innocent people may be executed.”
This is the second execution of the year in Saudi Arabia after a Syrian was beheaded on Tuesday for drug trafficking.
Last year, the kingdom beheaded 76 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under its strict version of Shariah, or Islamic law.
International law prohibits the death penalty for crimes committed before the age of 18.
Domestic workers in the Middle East contribute a large part of the remittances which make up Sri Lanka’s largest source of foreign earnings.