Saudi court commutes death sentence given Sri Lankan maid convicted of adultery

A Saudi appeals court chose to reconsider the initial ruling on Sri Lanka’s request, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Harsha de Silva.

The decision to commute her death sentence had been made after appeals by the Sri Lankan government on her behalf.

Analysts say Iran may still change that woman’s death sentence, from stoning to hanging.

A Saudi Arabian court has commuted the death-by-stoning sentence passed on a Sri Lankan maid convicted of adultery, the government in Colombo said on Wednesday.

The maid, 45, who is married and had worked as a domestic helper in Riyadh since 2013, was convicted in August of adultery with a fellow Sri Lankan migrant worker.

Ms. Atukorale pointed out that generally Sri Lankan migrant workers did not bring to notice such cases to Sri Lankan Missions in foreign countries.

There was no immediate comment in Saudi state media on the news the woman had been spared.

The National Sangha Convention also staged a demonstration in front of the Saudi Embassy in Colombo requesting the authorities to save the Sri Lankan woman. Their remittances are an important contributor to the South Asian nation’s GDP.

The woman had been working in Saudi Arabia as a housemaid.

Saudi Arabia follows a conservative interpretation of Islamic law and applies the death penalty to a number of crimes including murder, rape and drug smuggling.