10 Keralites languishing in Taif jail

JEDDAH: Twenty-five Indians, including 10 from Kerala, are languishing at the central prison in Taif, according to a report from the Indian diplomatic delegation, which visited the jail recently.
Sanjay Sharma, vice consul of the Indian consulate’s welfare department in Jeddah and Muhammed Asim, a staff member of the mission led the delegation that visited the jail.
Malayali community volunteer Mohammed Salih was also part of the official team. They said most of the Keralites were undergoing jail sentence for making and selling liquor.
One Malayali has been in prison for over 18 months as he could not pay blood money for causing a road accident.
Other inmates are from Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Karnataka. Sharma said tha the Indian mission will speed up procedures for getting the prisoners released.