10.55 PM Thursday, 28 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:57 06:11 12:27 15:53 18:37 19:51
28 March 2024

Ill Saudi mum seeks help to save life of convicted son

Published
By Staff

An ageing Saudi woman suffering from appealed for King Abdullah to intervene to save her son from the gallows after he was convicted of killing another man and the victim’s family demanded SR10 million (Dh9.6 million) for a pardon.

Um Khaled, in her 70s, said a donation campaign launched over the past months had raised only SRtwo million and that her son would be executed within a month if the diya (blood money) demanded by the victim’s family was not fully paid.

“I appeal for the Monarch and all benefactors to help save my son…I also beg the relatives of the deceased to forgive my son and have pity on me as an ill person,” she said, quoted by the Arabic language daily Sabq.

The paper said Umm Khaled’s son was sentenced to death a few years ago after he was convicted of killing another Saudi during a fight in the central province of Qaseem.

Convicted killers can avert execution and walk free in Saudi Arabia if pardoned by the victim’s relatives for diya in line with Islamic sharia (law).