CHENNAI: India, through its embassy in Doha, will soon file an appeal in the Supreme Court of Qatar against the death sentence awarded to two of its nationals belonging to Tamil Nadu. It will also appeal against life imprisonment awarded to another national, also hailing from TN. Families of the two who have been sentenced to death — Chellathurai Perumal from Virudhunagar district and Sivakumar Arasan from Salem — on charges of murdering a woman had on Monday appealed to the Tamil Nadu and Union governments to save them from the gallows.
Two days after the families made a fervent appeal, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa had on Wednesday sanctioned Rs 9.5 lakh to take care of the expenses for filing the appeal. She had also said that state government officials are in touch with Indian embassy officials in Qatar. Responding to a specific question in this regard at a regular briefing in New Delhi on Thursday, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said the three Indian nationals had filed a petition in the appeal court, challenging lower court’s verdict.
