A Scottish blogger living in Sri Lanka has been forced to go on the run over fears she may be jailed or reported without any possessions.
Kayleigh Fraser, 34, has been vocal on social media regarding the uprising in the country since Ranil Wickremsinghe took charge on July 21, citing several protests in Columbo.
Now, the blogger, originally from St Andrew's, has gone into hiding and has spoken out from her undisclosed location saying that she fears the authorities will revoke her visa. Kayleigh has also had her passport seized after immigration officers turned up to her home in August.
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The Record reports how the medical researcher has now gone on the run and she "barely trusts anyone" as well as running low on money and provisions. She said: "This has been a nightmare. I've no passport, I'm running very low on cash and I barely trust anyone. I'm totally exhausted and sick of living like I'm some kind of criminal.
"I don't know what they will do to me if they arrest me. These people have shown their brutality - I'm scared to go into their custody. I'm pretty scared about how I will even be able to leave the country."
Kayleigh had originally travelled to the country to study plant medicine but found herself in the middle of a civil uprising and is now moving from place to place, removing her SIM card amidst fears she is being tracked.
She said her friends they have been intimidated by officers, including with threats of physical violence, as they hunt for Scottish woman - who they are said to describe as a 'drug trafficker'.
Kayleigh added: "CID and immigration went to my friend's house assaulted him. They pushed him against a wall with a metal bar to his throat and demanded he tell them where I am.
"His partner is heavily pregnant. They took their belongings like their phones and laptops too - just because they were with me that day and they had somehow found out I was there."
Kayleigh is being helped by a human rights lawyer while she desperately awaits a court case later this month that will hopefully result in her being able to leave the country.
She continued: "This is a government that operates on assault and intimidation and so many people who have never met me have taken great personal risk to give me food and shelter.
"Nagananda keeps reassuring me that this will be resolved. If the worst comes to worst I'm 100% getting out of here. f they catch me I will be detained and deported, but I will make a plan to leave."
Sri Lanka has been criticised by international observers for its military-style policing in the wake of the protests that unfolded earlier this year as food prices doubled and inflation rose to 70%.
Yamini Mishra, of Amnesty International, said last month that the authorities have used "force, intimidation and harassment to subdue protestors".
Police Scotland ended a deal to train Sri Lankan forces last year following criticism of the tactics being used against civilians.
Sri Lankan authorities have not responded to the Record's enquiries since they first reported on Kayleigh's situation in August.
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