External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has sought a report from the State Government about a case relating to an Iranian-origin British charity worker who has been sentenced to one-year jail term by the Rayagada SDJM Court after convicting her on charges of causing death of a tribal child due to negligence.
The court also ordered Narges K Ashtari (28) for payment of compensation of Rs 3 lakh to the child’s family.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif recently said Iran would use all its capacity to secure Ashtari’s release.
“I have asked for a report from Government of Odisha reg the case of Narges K Ashtari. @BorisJohnson @JZarif,” Swaraj said in a tweet, drawing attention of her intervention in the case to Zarif as well as British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson.
An online petition by social activists recently sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in seeking justice for Ashtari, saying she has dedicated her life in serving orphaned and abandoned children around the world.
Born in Isfahan, central Iran, Ashtari’s parents moved to the UK when she was four years old.
She faced the charges after the disappearance in 2014 of the tribal child Aseem, who drowned when she along with other inmates of her foundation took him to the outskirts of Rayagada town for a picnic. Aseem fell into the river and was killed while crossing the Nagavali river on a hanging bridge.
