Two Punjabi men were recently beheaded by Saudi Arabian authorities and this has called for widespread criticism from Indians. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said he would seek a detailed report from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on the matter.
The deceased were identified as Satwinder Kumar of Safdarpur Kallian village in Hoshiarpur district and Harjit Singh of Ludhiana district. IANS reported that the two men were executed by Saudi authorities on February 28 without any prior information being shared with the Indian embassy in Riyadh.
Satwinder's wife Seema Rani had filed a petition before the court regarding her husband following which the Embassy said that they had no information regarding the mortal remains of the two men.?
Photo: BCCL
Satwinder and Safdarpur were arrested on December 9, 2015 in connection with the murder of another Indian national, Arif Imamuddin. All three (Satwinder, Harjit and Arif) had committed robbery and due to a dispute in sharing the loot money, Arif was killed by the other two.?
During the deportation formalities the two men were found guilty of Arif¡¯s murder. Following which they were sent to the Riyadh prison. The embassy officials were following the case against the two Punjabi men and they even used to visit them in prison. The jail list regarding their case was collected till February 18, 2019.?
Punjab Chief Minister Amrinder Singh said, ¡°It is atrocious that such incidents continue to happen in civilised nations in this day and age." He even criticized?the MEA for not disclosing the death of two Indians until a petition forced them to.?
He further termed the beheading as "totally barbaric and inhuman".?
Photo: Twitter
"If the executions were undertaken without prior information even to the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia, with the victims not provided legal counsel, it amounted to a grave violation of international human rights," he further added.?
Just days before the reported beheadings, India had hosted the Saudi Crown Prince, whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi had received personally, in a break from protocol, the Chief Minister pointed out. He said that given the friendly relations between the two countries it wouldn¡¯t be difficult for India to get the bodies of the two men back to their country.?
Singh said he would personally seek External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj¡¯s interference into the matter.