Rizana Nafeek (born 1988) is a Sri Lankan teenager, who was sentenced in Saudi Arabia for unintentional homicide. Sri Lanka has sought unsuccessfully Nafeek's amnesty, and the Asian Human Rights Commission has ruled that Nafeek's case has received the most attention from international human rights case in Saudi Arabia.[1]
17-year-old Nafeek arrived in Riyadh 4 May 2005 and began her work as soon as a domestic helper in Dawadamissa, which is 400 kilometers from Riyadh. On 22 May 2005 her employer's baby died in Rizana's responsibility. Nafeek believes that the baby choked on a bottle by accident during feeding, but the baby's parents insist that Nafeek is guilty of murder.[2]
Nafeek was sentenced to death on 16 June 2007. She has been imprisoned since May 2005. Nafeek was at the time only 17 years old, but her passport was forged to mark the birth year as 1982, because minors were not allowed to work in Saudi Arabia.