A photo of victim Priyantha Kumara
Priyantha Kumara’s salary for December 2021 and aid of $100,000 forwarded to Priyantha Kumara’s widow
A month’s salary ($1,667), and a compensatory grant of Rs. 17.6 million ($100,000), has been transferred to the widow of Sri Lankan national Priyantha Kumara, who was lynched by a mob in Sialkot last month over allegations of blasphemy.
“Funds of $100,000 and first salary of $1,667 committed by Rajco Industries for next 10 years, and announced by Prime Minister Imran Khan, has been transferred to the account of the widow of deceased Sri Lankan manager Priyantha Kumara in Sri Lanka,” read a tweet posted by Special Assistant to the P.M. on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill. He also shared images of the payment slips as verification.
Last month, while addressing a ceremony to mourn Kumara’s passing and honor a colleague who tried to protect him from the enraged mob, the prime minister had announced that the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry had raised $100,000 as financial assistance for the victim’s family. He had also said that Rajco Industries had committed to transferring his monthly salary, for the next 10 years, to his widow.
According to the payment slips, Rajco Industries transferred the financial assistance and the salary for December 2021 to Kumara’s widow through the National Bank of Pakistan.
Kumara, employed as a manager at a Rajco Industries factory in Sialkot, was in December tortured to death by an enraged mob after being accused of blasphemy. After he died, his body was set on fire.
The brutal killing, videos of which went viral on social media, provoked widespread condemnation from all stakeholders, including senior government functionaries, the military’s top leadership, and average citizens. Police have thus far arrested over 100 suspects, including two “primary accused” who had admitted in media interviews to instigating the lynching.