KUWAIT CITY. Aug 7: A Kuwaiti couple have been detained following the torture and beating to death of their Sri Lankan maid, newspapers said Saturday, reports AFP.

The man and wife were held after a doctor called in to their flat in Kuwait City pronounced the domestic help dead and informed authorities, the English-language Arab Times said.

The man denied any knowledge of how the Sri Lankan died, but his wife broke down during interrogation and said he had tortured and beaten the maid until she fell to the ground.

Some 100.000 Sri Lankans working in Kuwait, mainly as domestic servants, earn a monthly wage of up to 50 dinars (165 dollars).