Saudi silent over woman’s arrest

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The authorities in Saudi Arabia are yet to provide details over the arrest of a Sri Lankan woman on charges that she had dabbled in witch craft, a senior official with the External Affairs Ministry (EAM) said today. Director Publicity at the EAM Mr. Sarath Dissanayake said the Lankan Mission in Riyadh had been instructed to follow up the matter at the earliest because if the woman is convicted she faces the death penalty. "For their part the Saudi authorities have so far failed to bring the matter to the notice of the Sri Lankan Mission and this is a cause to worry", Mr. Dissanayake said. The woman was arrested earlier this month after a Saudi couple complained to the authorities that her daughter acted in an abnormal manner when ever the Lankan woman was nearby and she was subsequently arrested. Apart from that which appeared in the media there are no other details of the arrest and the follow-up action taken by the Saudi authorities, he added. Saudi Arabia is a monarchy, with no known written criminal code and judges’ make their decisions from interpretations of the Islamic Shariah Law.