Dammam: A Keralite youth, who was sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia, was lucky enough to escape from gallows as the slain person's family hailing from his own State pardoned his crime. The intervention of former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy finally led to his release.
Sakeer Hussain, hailing from Kollam district of Kerala, came out of a Saudi jail after nine years of incarceration. He reached home on Saturday.
Sakeer was sentenced to death for killing Thomas Mathew, 27, of Chalayil House at Kottamury in Kottayam.
Sakeer, who was a employee in a laundry. Mathew was his room mate in Dammam.
The murder took place during the Onam celebrations in 2013. A verbal altercation erupted between the two and suddenly Sakeer took a knife from the kitchen and stabbed Mathew. He died on the spot.
After the trial, the Saudi court ordered that Sakeer should first undergo a jail sentence of eight years, followed by death sentence.
The capital punishment was averted after much effort as Sakeer finally managed to submit before the Saudi court the testimony signed by Mathew's parents and siblings granting him pardon. But Sakeer had to undergo the jail sentence for the full term before his release.
