Nepali people living in South Korea have collected Rs 2.2 million as blood money to save the life of Anish Khaling Rai, a Nepali migrant worker who faces a death sentence in the UAE.

A lower court in Abu Dhabi in the UAE has sentenced 23-year-old Rai to death for his involvement in the murder of a Pakistani national. Rai, a permanent resident of Matshyapokhari in Sankhusabha district, was handed death sentence on July 5, 2013. He was arrested on October 25, 2012 after a Pakistani national with whom he had a fight in a restaurant died later. He had gone to the UAE to work as a domestic helper two years earlier.

Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN), Kirat Rai Yayokkha, Poor and Orphan Children Protection Fund, Nepali Sampraka Samiti, Sankhuwasabha Sampraka Pariwar, Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) and Solukhumbu Sampraka Samiti, among other 20 organisations, handed over the sum of Rs 2,050,000 to NRNA Advisor and ‘Save Anish Campaign’ Coordinator Manoj Kumar Dangi in the presence of Nepali Ambassador to South Korea Kaman Singh Lama amid press meet in Seoul on Sunday. 

Around 800 individuals supported the campaign and collected the sum. Campaign Coordinator Dangi is due to leave for Nepal on Tuesday to hand over the amount to Rai’s family.

Earlier, Rs 210,000 collected by Arun Shrestha, one of the campaigners, was handed over to Rai’s wife on February 10. The Save Anish Campaign was initiated jointly by Manoj Kumar Dangi, Arun Shrestha, Buddha Gautam and Kalpana Rai in January.