The foreign ministry has confirmed that 2 Indians, Satwinder Kumar of Hoshiarpur and Harjeet Singh of Ludhiana, have been beheaded in Saudi Arabia on charges of murdering a fellow Indian.
The 2 were executed on February 28 this year.
The Indian embassy in Riyadh, however, was not informed by the Saudi authorities before the executions.
The families of the deceased may not get the bodies because of rules against it.
Harjeet and Satwinder killed Imamuddin after a scuffle broke out between them over distribution of some money they had looted.
The details of the fate of Satwinder Kumar and Harjeet Singh were revealed by the foreign ministry after a petition was filed by Satwinder’s wife Seema Rani.
In the letter, delivered to Seema on Monday, it was revealed that Satwinder and Harjeet were arrested on December 9, 2015 for allegedly killing Arif Imamuddin.
‘Executed without informing embassy’
According to the ministry, Harjeet and Satwinder were arrested and kept in Dammam jail for drinking liquor and fighting, but on completion of their sentences in the liquor case and during deportation formalities that involved fingerprinting for final exit from Saudi Arabia, they were found to be linked to the murder of Imamuddin.
“They were, therefore, shifted to Riyadh jail for trial of the murder case and during investigation both of them confessed to their crime. The hearing of their case on May 31, 2017 was attended by an embassy official. At that time, the case file was transferred to an appeal court adding an additional charge of ‘hirabha (highway robbery that also invites capital punishment)’,” according to the MEA communication.
The letter, signed by Prakash Chand, director (consular), added that embassy officials used to visit the jail to know about the status of their trial. “But, both were executed on February 28, 2019 without informing the embassy. Several communications were made to the ministry of foreign affairs, Saudi Arabia, to get the mortal remains but Saudi system does not permit handing over the bodies of those executed to the embassy,” the letter said.
“However, both were executed on February 28, 2019 without informing the embassy. Several communications were made to ministry of foreign affairs, Saudi Arabia to get the mortal remains but it has been learnt that the Saudi system does not permit handing over the bodies of those executed, to the embassy or families of the deceased,” the MEA claimed in the letter to Satwinder’s wife.
Reacting to the MEA letter, lawyer of deceased Satwinder's family, advocate Vinod Kumar said it was shocking that the embassy was not informed about the execution. He also claimed that residents of Satwinder’s village are in shock as they could not believe that Satwinder could be involved in so many criminal activities, as claimed by the MEA.
Satwinder had gone to Saudi Arabia in 2013 as a truck driver for a company called Al-Majid.
“They were shifted to Riyadh jail for trial and they confessed to their crime. The hearing of their case on May 31, 2017 was attended by an embassy official. At that time, the case file was transferred to an appeals court, with an additional charge of ‘hirabha (highway robbery that also invites capital punishment)’,” according to the MEA communication.
Source: timesofindia.com, April 17, 2019
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
