Woman, 45, Sentenced to Death By Stoning For Committing Adultery in Saudi Arabia

Sri Lanka has reportedly appealed to Saudi Arabia to pardon one of its citizens, a married 45-year-old maid in Riyadh who was convicted by a Sharia court in August, 2013 and sentenced to death by stoning after admitting adultery.

Her partner, also a Sri Lankan, was given 100 lashes as he was single.

Foreign Employment Bureau spokesman Upul Deshapriya said: “The appeal is going on. The foreign ministry is in negotiation with the Saudis.” Saudi officials however did not comment.

According to Mirror UK, the oil producing country which follows Sharia, or Islamic law, is often criticised by human rights groups for the wide range of crimes such as adultery, drug smuggling and witchcraft which carry the death penalty.

Stoning, a form of execution where a group throws stones at a person buried waist or chest deep in the ground until they are dead, is still carried out in parts of the Muslim world.

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In 2013, Saudi Arabia beheaded a young Sri Lankan housemaid for the killing of an infant left in her care, rejecting repeated appeals by Colombo against her death sentence.

Thousands travel to the Middle East yearly to seek jobs as maids or drivers.