Saudi diplomate case: ‘He can still be punished’

Saudi Arabian diplomat Majed Hassan Ashoor may have escaped the Indian legal system, but if the Saudi government wants he could get “very severe punishment” if proven guilty, former Indian ambassador to Saudi Arabia Talmiz Ahmad said Thursday.

Speaking from Dubai, Ahmad said, “A person charged with rape in Saudi Arabia can be given either a long prison sentence or even the death sentence… it depends on the circumstances of the crime, and it has to be proven.” Under the Shariah, he said, the judge can also grant lashes. “But it has to be 100 per cent proven,” he said.