Om Astha Rai

Nepal has offered 30,000 Saudi Riyal -- approximately NRs 630,000 -- to the family of a Pakistani national, who was accidentally murdered by a Nepali worker, as blood money to secure clemency for the convict.

At a meeting with the Pakistani embassy officials in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, Nepali officials, led by Deputy Chief of Mission Harish Chandra Ghimire, said that Nepal would slightly increase the amount of blood money if the victim´s family refused to pardon Umesh Yadav, convicted of murder by a Saudi Arabian court.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) had recently instructed the Nepali embassy in Riyadh to seek clemency for Yadav, a resident of Machijhitakaiya village of Dhanusha district, by not offering more than a certain amount. Our initial offering is 30,000 Saudi Riyal," said Sagar Prasad Phunyal, second secretary at the embassy. "We will increase the amount assessing the demand of the Pakistani victim´s family in negotiations."

Yadav -- who landed in Jubail, a major city of Saudi Arabia, as a migrant worker -- had tragically ended up killing Mohammad Wasir, a Pakistani national, during a brief scuffle in 2006. Yadav has been languishing in a jail ever since. A court in Jubial had recently handed down a death sentence to Yadav by convicting him of murdering Wasir. A convicted murderer is generally beheaded in Saudi Arabia. A Nepali migrant worker was similarly beheaded there some 10 years ago.

“Beheading of any Nepali national sends a negative message across the Gulf where Nepali migrants have crafted an image of honest and disciplined workers,” says Phunyal. “We, therefore, have taken up this issue seriously.” According to him, Pakistani officials have already started searching for Wasir´s father. It is learnt that Wasir´s father is currently working at Bid Laden Company in Mecca of Saudi Arabia.

“Wasir´s father may easily agree to pardon Yadav in exchange of blood money,” Phunyal said.

“However, we must get consent from Wasir´s wife, who has by now eloped with another man.” According to him, as per the Islamic laws prevalent in Pakistan, Wasir´s wife, despite being married to some other person, will bag one-eighth of the blood money. “The amount entitled to her will be very less,” he said. “She may refuse the offer. In that case, we are ready to strike a separate deal with her.”

Yadav has a wife and two sons. He also has an aging father, Bhola and mother Suman. Yadav had recently asked his family to do something to save him. But, according to Phunyal, Yadav´s family is too poor to do anything to save him. “They are poor,” he said. “We must collect blood money on our own.”

Recently, the family of a Nepali worker killed by a Pakistani official in Saudi Arabia was offered 98,000 Saudi Riyal as blood money.

Published on: 25 December 2011 | Republica