Two Indian nationals convicted in separate murder cases and sentenced to death in the UAE have been executed, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday. They have been identified as Muhammed Rinash Arangilottu and Muraleedharan Perumthatta Valappil, both from Kerala.

The MEA said the duo were executed after the highest court in the UAE, the Court of Cassation, upheld the sentences. While Muhammed Rinash was convicted of the murder of an Emirati national, Muraleedharan was sentenced for killing an Indian.

The UAE informed the Indian Embassy on February 28 about the executions. The MEA said the embassy provided all possible consular and legal assistance to the Indian nationals, including sending mercy petitions and pardon requests to the UAE government.

"The families of the concerned have been informed. The Embassy is in touch with them and facilitating their participation in the last rites," the MEA further stated.

Muraleedharan has been in jail since 2009. Not much is known about Rinash and his family. Most of the members are settled abroad.

Muraleedharan's father, Kesavan, had got in touch with the then Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and other politicians back when the incident took place.

Last month, a 33-year-old woman from Uttar Pradesh was executed in the UAE. Shahzadi Khan was executed on February 15 in Abu Dhabi for allegedly killing a four-month-old child under her care in December 2022. The child died after receiving routine vaccinations, and Shahzadi, who was employed as a caregiver, was accused of causing the death.

The woman's father recently appealed to the Indian government to send him to the UAE for her last rites. "The government should arrange a trip for me to go to Dubai so that I can attend her last rites. Injustice has been done to me. You could not give me my daughter alive, at least give me her body," Shabbir Khan told India Today.

Source: India Today