Priyantha Kumara's widow gets financial help from Sialkot business community

• Widow of Priyantha Kumara, the Sri Lankan national who was brutally murdered in Sialkot, gets monetary assistance.
• Rajco Industries will give monetary assistance to family of Kumara every year for 10 years.
• Rs17.6 million ($100,000) and first month's salary transferred to account of Kumara's widow.

Rajco Industries has sent Rs17.6 million ($100,000) in monetary assistance and the salary for the month of December 2021 to the family of its deceased former general manager.

Rajco Industries has transferred the money from the National Bank's Sialkot District Court branch to a bank account held by Kumara's widow, Dawn News reported.

According to media reports from last month, the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry raised $100,000 to support Kumara's family.

SCCI President Mian Imran Akbar stated that the organisation was taking appropriate measures to prevent future incidents similar to the one that resulted in Kumara's lynching. He stated that foreign employees and businessmen would be protected, reported Dawn News.

"It is our responsibility to provide financial assistance to the affected family of the Sri Lankan citizen," he added.

Following the money transfer, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Dr Shahbaz Gill tweeted that funds worth US$100,000 and a month’s salary of US $1,667 committed by Rajco Industries for the next 10 years and announced by the Prime Minister of Pakistan has been transferred to the account of the deceased’s widow. 

Prime Minister Imran Khan also appreciated the Sialkot business community via a tweet on Tuesday, for extending financial help to Kumara’s family.

The Rajco industry will give the monetary assistance to the family of Kumara every year for ten years, the PM noted. 

The incident

Priyantha Kumara, working as a manager at a private factory in Sialkot, was tortured to death in December by a mob after being accused of blasphemy.

Workers of a garment industry, located on Sialkot’s Wazirabad Road, had alleged that the foreigner had committed blasphemy. He was subsequently lynched and his body set on fire.

The mob had also vandalised the factory and blocked traffic, according to police.

The brutal murder had drawn widespread condemnation from senior government functionaries, including the prime minister and president, as well as the military's top leadership, who promised to bring all those involved to the book.

Over 100 arrested

Police had arrested more than 100 suspects, including two described as the main accused, and registered a case in this regard.

According to a handout isfamily sued by the Punjab police spokesman, a case has been registered under the provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act with the police as the complainant.