Keralite jailed for killing compatriot in Qatar

Qatar: A 44-year-old Keralite in Qatar has been sentenced to 10 years in jail and slapped with a hefty fine of about USD 54,000 for killing his compatriot last year.

The court found the accused, an air-conditioning mechanic, guilty of killing the 26-year-old fellow worker on their weekly off, following an altercation between the two earlier in the day.

The incident took place at their company accommodation located in a villa compound in Al Wukair area on April 18, 2014, Gulf Times reported.

After the reported altercation between the two earlier, the victim went to the roof top of their accommodation to dry his clothes.

Seeing him alone there, the accused attacked him with a sharp rod, which resulted in his instant death, the report said.

Though the accused went into hiding for the next 24 hours, he was apprehended from the compound a day later.

The Primary Court in Doha also ordered the accused to pay a blood money of 200,000 Qatari riyals (around USD 54,920) to the kith and kin of the victim.

The accused belonged to Thiruvananthapuram district while the victim, who was a bachelor, and survived by his parents, came to work here from Madhya Pradesh.