Karnataka Man Who Was Jailed In Saudi For A Blasphemous FB Post He Never Made, Reaches India
Bangera, a native of Udupi district in Karnataka returned home Wednesday after spending 604 days in a prison in Saudi Arabia for a 'crime' he never committed.
Ending his nearly two-year-long ordeal, Harish Bangera is back in India, with his loved ones, whom he feared he won't be able to see again.
Bangera, a native of Udupi district in Karnataka returned home Wednesday after spending 604 days in a prison in Saudi Arabia for a 'crime' he never committed.
BCCL
Bangera who was working as an air-conditioner technician in a company in Saudi Arabia since 2014 landed in trouble after he was accused of posting derogatory content in December 2019.
Though Bangera had apologized and deactivated his Facebook, it was too late and by then the incident was reported to the police and he was arrested.
However, another account was soon created in his name and posts insulting Mecca and the Saudi Crown Prince were posted from it.
In his video statement apologizing for the post, Bangera failed to mention that the blasphemous post was shared from a Facebook account someone else had created using his identity.
Blasphemy a serious crime in Saudi Arabia
Since blasphemy is a serious crime in Saudi Arabia, Bangera would have faced death for it.
But an investigation in India, based on his wife Sumana' complaint found that the post was indeed shared from a fake account.
Two people, identified as Abdul Huyez and Abdul Thuyez from Moodbidri were arrested in October 2020 for impersonating Bangera and posting blasphemous content.
Abdul Huyez & Abdul Thuyez, 2 brothers from Karnataka, created a fake account in name of another Karnataka native Harish Bangera. They posted derogatory comments against Saudi King & Mecca in Dec 2019. Harish was working in Saudi. He was arrested & has been in jail since then. pic.twitter.com/vW3OEZc9K3
¡ª 7Annihilator?? (@7Annihilator) July 18, 2021
According to the police, the two brothers did it out of anger over Bangera's support for CAA and NRC.
The findings were informed to the Saudi authorities through the Indian Embassy and with the help of the Mangaluru Association Saudi Arabia (MASA), Indian Overseas Forum and several other organisation secure the release of Bangera.
BCCL
On Wednesday, Bangera reached Bengaluru airport and reunited with his family, including his 4-year-old daughter.
Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
Read More
