BENGALURU: More than a month after Harish Bangera, 32, was arrested in Saudi Arabia over alleged hate posts on social media, ministry of external affairs officials said they have sent several requests but authorities in the Gulf nation have not responded to even a single query. Bangera, a resident of Goyadibettu in Bijadi village of Kundapur taluk, Udupi district, was an air-conditioning technician for a company in Dammam, capital of Saudi's eastern provice.
He was arrested on December 20, 2019 for allegedly posting derogatory messages on Facebook against Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammad bin Salman and a community.
Sources in MEA told TOI, "We've made many efforts to contact the Saudi authorities but they haven't responded. It is the right of every individual to at least have communication with a counsellor, but the Saudi authorities have neither allowed nor communicated anything in this regard."
Bangera's wife Sumana M, who lives in Udupi, said a fake Facebook account was the cause of the problem. Udupi police said they have contacted the US-based company but is yet to get a response.
According to sources, Indians, especially people from Bangera's hometown, would visit him in prison and were in touch with the authorities, but Saudi police warned them not to meet him in jail as it's a serious offence.
Harish's roommate, a Pakistani, is also believed to have tried his best to get him out of prison, they added.
'Cannot console my daughter'
Sumana said her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter wants to talk to her father. "Harish would call us at least three-four times every day. He'd talk to her on a video call and she hasn't seen or spoken to him for over a month. I'm unable to make her understand what has happened to him," she said. Sumana has been told the Saudi authorities could take three more months to complete the inquiry.
Sumana has told the Cyber Economic and Narcotics (CEN) police in Udupi that her husband is paying the price for hate posts on a fake Facebook account created in his name. However, police are still unclear whether it was a fake account as in the same ID, there was a video apologising for the hate remarks.
He was arrested on December 20, 2019 for allegedly posting derogatory messages on Facebook against Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammad bin Salman and a community.
Sources in MEA told TOI, "We've made many efforts to contact the Saudi authorities but they haven't responded. It is the right of every individual to at least have communication with a counsellor, but the Saudi authorities have neither allowed nor communicated anything in this regard."
Bangera's wife Sumana M, who lives in Udupi, said a fake Facebook account was the cause of the problem. Udupi police said they have contacted the US-based company but is yet to get a response.
According to sources, Indians, especially people from Bangera's hometown, would visit him in prison and were in touch with the authorities, but Saudi police warned them not to meet him in jail as it's a serious offence.
Harish's roommate, a Pakistani, is also believed to have tried his best to get him out of prison, they added.
'Cannot console my daughter'
Sumana said her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter wants to talk to her father. "Harish would call us at least three-four times every day. He'd talk to her on a video call and she hasn't seen or spoken to him for over a month. I'm unable to make her understand what has happened to him," she said. Sumana has been told the Saudi authorities could take three more months to complete the inquiry.
Sumana has told the Cyber Economic and Narcotics (CEN) police in Udupi that her husband is paying the price for hate posts on a fake Facebook account created in his name. However, police are still unclear whether it was a fake account as in the same ID, there was a video apologising for the hate remarks.
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