Colombo , Sri Lanka ( CNN ) -- Sri Lanka 's president on Tuesday appealed to Saudi Arabia 's king to grant clemency to a housemaid convicted of killing her employer 's baby . President Mahinda Rajapaksa sent the appeal to King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz , said Rajapaksa 's media unit . The move followed media reports that the Riyadh Supreme Court had endorsed the death sentence imposed on Rizana Nafeek for killing the 4-month-old boy in 2005 . She killed the child after she was asked to bottle-feed him , Saudi police said . Nafeek said the child died accidentally , choking on milk . A three-judge panel of the Dawadami High Court found Nafeek guilty , and the death sentence was imposed in June 2007 . About 1.5 million Sri Lankans work abroad -- nearly 400,000 of them in Saudi Arabia alone -- because of their limited earning potential at home . Nafeek was 17 when she started working in Saudi Arabia , and was accused of killing the baby two weeks into her job . She took the position to support her family after they were displaced by the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean .
She killed the child after she was asked to bottle-feed him , Saudi police said . Score: 6 She took the job after the 2004 tsunami displaced her family . About 1.5 million Sri Lankans work abroad .