Sushma Swaraj asks Embassy in Riyadh to help arrested Indian national

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday asked Indian Embassy in Riyadh to keep her informed about the case of a 32-year-old man from Hyderabad being sentenced to one year’s imprisonment and 300 lashes by a Saudi court after being convicted in a robbery case.

Swaraj’s direction came after the family of Mohammed Mansoor Hussain, a resident of Malakpet in Hyderabad who holds an MBA degree, reached out to her through Twitter and told her that they are very poor and cannot afford a lawyer for him.

“Pl do not worry. Our Embassy is doing everything,” Swaraj replied to the tweet.

“Right. Pl keep me informed about this case,” she told the Indian mission in Riyadh.

As per reports, Hussain is lodged in Wadi Al Dawasir jail in Saudi Arabia. He had been working as a marketing auditor at Abdel Hadi Abdullah Al Qahtani and Sons Limited in Riyadh since 2013.

Hussain’s family claimed on August 25 last year he had gone to a bank to deposit nearly one lakh Saudi Riyal when he was allegedly robbed by some miscreants. When he went to a police station to lodge a complaint on the advice of his boss, he was taken to custody.

According to reports, he has been sentenced to one year imprisonment and 300 lashes.