Families of two Bangladeshis killed in Saudi Arabia get Tk30cr compensation

Families of the two Bangladeshis killed in Saudi Arabia received Tk30 crore in compensation through the mediation of the Bangladesh Embassy in Saudi Arabia.

A total of 5.1 million Saudi Riyal went to the family of Sagar Patwari, who was killed in Dammam in 2006, and 4.88 million Saudi Riyal to the family of Abiran Begum, who was killed in Riyadh in 2019, a press release from the Bangladesh Embassy said on Wednesday (20 December).

Sagar Patwari of Cumilla district was killed on 27 June 2006 by unidentified gunmen in Dammam city. The murder case did not progress much as the assailant could not be identified for a long time.

Later, on 12 August 2018, a representative of Bangladesh Embassy's Labor Welfare Wing, while visiting Dammam South police station, learned that Saudi national Umar Al Shammeri, who is a suspect in the Sagar Patwari murder case, was detained in a theft case.

The police station informed that if Umar is filed as a defendant with the necessary documents, the case will be re-investigated. 

After contacting the family members of Sagar, the representative of the Labor Welfare Wing filed a complaint in the court demanding the death penalty of the accused.

On 24 March 2021, as the charges were proved in the trial, the court sentenced the accused Umar Al Shammeri to death by beheading. 

When the father of the defendant proposed a settlement to withdraw the demand for death penalty in exchange of money, the heirs of the deceased Sagar Patwari agreed to a proposal of 5.1 million Riyal through the mediation of the ambassador.

On the other hand, Abiran Begum, a domestic worker hailing from Khulna, was murdered by Ayesha Ahmad Sagir Al Jizani on 24 March 2019, at her employer's residence in Riyadh's Aziziya. 

After a trial, the court gave the verdict of Kesus (life for life) against the main defendant Ayesha Ahmad Sagir Al Jizani in 2021. The other defendants were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 Saudi Riyal.

When an appeal was filed against the judgement, the bench of the appellate court upheld the death sentence.

When the family of the defendants and the Saudi government requested pardon in exchange for blood money, the family of the deceased agreed for a settlement with help of the Bangladesh Embassy.