An Indian couple in Riyadh has been arrested and put in jail after their Nepalese maid ran away from their home and was found murdered.
DUBAI: A young Indian couple in Riyadh has been arrested and put in jail after a Nepalese maid employed by them ran away from their home and was found murdered a few days later.
But Roy Thomas, who works for Saudi Bin Laden Co, and his wife Biji, a hospital nurse, have twin infants, just 18-months-old. There’s the rub.
“For now the twin infants are in the care of a family known to the couple. Their friends and relatives are trying to get permission to send them to their home in Kerala,” P Balachandran, second secretary, Indian Embassy, Riyadh said.
In the Saudi penal system, diplomatic missions do not have easy access to offenders in jail, more so if they are Indians. As for Europeans and Americans, their governments put in so much pressure that the accused get relief faster. “We have sent an official to the jail to collect information about the two accused” Balachandran told DNA on phone. “It is not necessary that they will give the information.”
The incident has highlighted the danger of hiring runaway maids by expatriates. But many expat couples cannot afford to bring house helps on their own visa and hiring absconding maids is a common practice in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states.
“The maid’s post mortem report was not yet available,” said Balachandran. The Indian Embassy has sent a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, seeking more information about the case.
Thomas and his wife are placed in separate prisons. Diplomatic sources quoting friends of the couple said that it was very unlikely that the couple are involved in the death of the maid. But if the police charges them with murder, they will be in for a protracted legal battle. In the Saudi legal framework it is difficult for anyone to accord legal help to the couple.
Earlier when Indians were beheaded on various drug charges, the embassy used to be informed after the event and sometimes not at all. E Ahamed, Indian minister of state for foreign affairs, and Sabastian Paul, a member of Parliament have meanwhile written to the mission asking them to help the couple.
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