₹2-crore blood money paid, Muktsar man to return from Saudi Arabia
His family expressed gratitude to the public and philanthropist SPS Oberoi for raisng ₹2-crore blood money for Balwinder’s release from imprisonment in Saudi Arabia
Thirty-five-year-old Balwinder Singh is scheduled to reach his native place Mallan village in Muktsar on Friday after escaping death penalty pronounced by a Riyadh court in 2013.
His family expressed gratitude to the public and philanthropist SPS Oberoi for raisng ₹2-crore blood money for Balwinder’s release from imprisonment in Saudi Arabia.
The family got a call from the Indian embassy in Riyadh that Balwinder would take off at 4.10 pm local Saudi time on Thursday and reach Amritsar via Delhi.
Balwinder’s sister Satpal Kaur (41) said she was indebted to all those helped the landless family. “My parents passed away while hoping that Balwinder would return home alive. The past 15 years were devastating as my brother, who went to foreign to support his poor parents, entangled in legal issues,” she said.
Balwinder was held guilty of killing a Saudi resident in 2013. His cousin Mandeep Singh said Balwinder had gone to Saudi Arabia in 2008 to work in a transport company. “One day, a Saudi national was abusing few Punjab youth at the work place. Balwinder intervened and soon there was a brawl in which the Saudi national attempted to stab him. Balwinder got hold of a stick in self defence and unfortunately the Saudi man lost life in the brawl. Balwinder pleaded that he never intended to take anyone’s life but his action was in self defence,” said Mandeep.
“He called me up from jail and urged me not share the development with his parents and others as there was no means for the poor family to arrange a blood money of ₹2 crore to be paid to the aggrieved Saudi family. But we arranged the money through crowd funding and the funds were submitted to the Riyadh court through the External Affairs ministry last year. He is being released from jail following several procedural steps,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“He called me up from jail and urged me not share the development with his parents and others as there was no means for the poor family to arrange a blood money of ₹2 crore to be paid to the aggrieved Saudi family. But we arranged the money through crowd funding and the funds were submitted to the Riyadh court through the External Affairs ministry last year. He is being released from jail following several procedural steps,” he said.
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