India Uncut

This blog has moved to its own domain. Please visit IndiaUncut.com for the all-new India Uncut and bookmark it. The new site has much more content and some new sections, and you can read about them here and here. You can subscribe to full RSS feeds of all the sections from here. This blogspot site will no longer be updated, except in case of emergencies, if the main site suffers a prolonged outage. Thanks - Amit.

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Off with his head. Oops

Prashant Kothari points to a disturbing report of an Indian who had his head chopped off by the Saudi Arabian authorities, who then confessed that they had made a mistake and the fellow was innocent. Manish Vij of Sepia Mutiny dramatises it well:
Imagine this: you’re a poor Indian villager. You’re recruited for a decent blue-collar job in the Middle East. Your dad borrows money to buy you the ticket. Your travel agent takes pity on you and buys you decent clothes for your first day on the job.

When you arrive, customs searches your belongings. You’re shocked when they tell you they found a small amount of heroin in your shoes and throw you in jail. You quickly realize the travel agent was not as generous as he seemed. You spend the next five years in lockup. The Indian embassy doesn’t help.

One fine day, the police take you out back and cut off your head. A few days later, while closing out your case, they realize they made a mistake and send a message to the Indian embassy: turns out you were innocent. Shrug. Body’s been disposed of. Shit happens. Whaddya gonna do?

Send Sunil More there.
amit varma, 1:17 PM| write to me | permalink | homepage

I recommend: