Suicide Sri Lankan maid allegedly sets house on blaze: report

(February 20,Bahrain, Sri Lanak Guardian) Two Bahraini youngsters were dragged unconscious from a blazing home, after their maid apparently set it on fire and hanged herself yesterday.Sri Lankan Mariyamma Berunan, 32, is believed to have poured kerosene throughout the Riffa home and set it ablaze.Her body was found hanging from a bedroom ceiling fan after firemen rescued the youngsters and tackled the blaze.Police were investigating.

Bahraini sponsor Adil Abdulhameed Mohammed Al Hammada said two of his children - Aisha, 21, and Talal, 15 - were sleeping in one room when the maid apparently set the home on fire.

He said Talal was ailing, so didn't go to school, while Aisha, a Bahrain University student, was sleeping because she had to attend afternoon classes.

Neighbours raised the alarm after spotting smoke at around 11am and called Mr Al Hammada's wife, who was out, and then called the fire service.

She and neighbours also called Mr Al Hammada, who was on his way to Bahrain International Airport, where he works as in-flight catering accounts officer.
He rushed home and found his children had been rescued and taken unconscious to BDF Hospital.

They were discharged a few hours later after treatment for smoke inhalation.
It was Mr Al Hammada who discovered Ms Berunan's body as he went into the still-smouldering house with firemen.

"When I pushed the door of a bedroom, I saw my housemaid hanging from the ceiling fan."

He told the GDN that she had worked for the family for eight months and proved herself to be a good and caring housemaid.

"She was a good maid and there was nothing that could have made her do such a thing.
"I don't know what happened, because she was perfectly all right and everything seemed well.

"I believe the reason is her family back home, whom she (apparently) spoke to before she hanged herself.

"When police arrived, they found a mobile near her, which was completely damaged.

"It could be that she called her family and had an argument."

He said his bedroom and the lobby were gutted and other rooms badly damaged.

The fire occurred on the first floor and Mr Al Hammada said the family were now staying on the ground floor.

Fire service officials said they sent three fire engines and 13 firemen to the scene.

An Interior Ministry statement said two people were rescued and the body of the maid was recovered, following an emergency call at 11.09am

A spokesman confirmed the blaze was fuelled by kerosene spread throughout the home.
A Salmaniya Medical Complex official said Ms Berunan's body showed no signs of burns.
Sri Lankan community honorary consul general P B Higgoda was unaware of the case until the GDN alerted him.

He said he would be contacting authorities to investigate the case. aneeqa@gdn.com.bh

Source:Gulf Daily News

-Sri Lanka Guardian