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29 March 2024

Saudi teen gets 60 days to raise Dh16m to escape death

Hamad Al Shammari's family were given two months to raise diya (blood money) to pay the relatives of the victim Khaled Hamad Khleef. (Sabq)

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By Staff

A 16-yer-old Saudi boy needs to pay SR16 million (Dh16 million) to the relatives of another boy he killed two years ago during a fight to escape execution after he was sentenced to death by a local court, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The judge at the court in the Northwestern town of Hail this week gave the family of the defendant Hamad Al Shammari two months to raise diya (blood money) to pay the relatives of the victim Khaled Hamad Khleef.

‘Sabq’ newspaper said a fund-raising campaign was started by the chief of the killer’s tribe Sheikh Dhari bin Mohammed with a donation of SR500,000 (Dh500,000) on Monday. It said Dhari urged tribe members and other Saudis to donate.

“I appeal for all benevolent people to help us raise this sum to pay the diya and save my son’s life,” the defendant’s mother Umm Ahmed said.

Under Islamic law, which is strictly enforced in Saudi Arabia, a convicted killer can walk free and escape execution if pardoned by the victim’s family in return for diya, which is officially set in Saudi Arabia at SR300,000 for a Muslim victim, but the victim’s relatives are allowed to demand any sum.