Dead Lankan maid still in morgue

From Leon Berenger in Dubai

Nearly five weeks after a Sri Lankan housemaid allegedly committed suicide inside the Dubai International Airport her body continues to remain in a local police mortuary awaiting bureaucratic approval from the Colombo authorities before her remains could be flown back to her family, officials said.

Sangarapillai Kala, a 30-year-old mother of two was found by janitors, hanging from a beam inside a ladies washroom in early January. She is a native from Batticaloa district, Consulate officials in Dubai told The Sunday Times.

S.A. Zaid, the Labour Attache with the Consulate said the young mother had arrived from neighbouring Kuwait and was on transit at the Dubai airport waiting to catch a connecting flight to Colombo when she had apparently taken her own life.

The motive for the suicide was not known, and any possible foul play was ruled out following positive lab tests, Mr. Zaid said. He added it was now for the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment to make the arrangements-like meeting the expenses for the body to be flown back to Colombo. The next of kin have already been informed, according to Mr. Zaid.