Nepalese national convicted of murder in Qatar granted pardon

A Nepalese expatriate serving 15 years in a Qatari prison after being convicted of murdering an Indonesian woman has been granted a pardon and sent home.

The Qatari government pardoned 40-year-old Chandrasekhar Yadav on the Gulf state’s National Day in December, revealed a Nepalese newspaper. He is now back in his home district of Belaha in the Himalayan country.

Yadav and two Indian taxi drivers, Mahadevan Unnikrishnan and Sreedharan Manikantan, were convicted of murdering an “unidentified” Indonesian woman on 21 December, 2010. The Indians received a 25-year prison term while Yadav was handed 15 years; they had been in jail since October 2003.

The case was said to be one of the rarest ever to take place in Qatar, with it going three times to the Supreme Court before the final verdict. The identity of the Indonesian maid, who was discovered at Al Wakrah beach, was never established, but authorities claimed that she had been illegally working as a maid.

Suryanath Mishra, the former Nepalese ambassador to Qatar, has spoken of his delight about the release after he supported Yadav ever since he stood accused of the murder. He also praised the Qatari authorities for facilitating the release.