Blood money and beheadings in Saudi Arabia

Recently, Darsem binti Dawud Tawar was facing execution by beheading in Saudi Arabia for murder, which she claims was an act of self-defense. Now, finally back home in Indonesia, she is a free woman - after the Indonesian government paid more than $500,000 in blood money. Darsem's pardon followed the recent beheading of another Indonesian maid convicted of murdering her employer in Saudi Arabia. In May 2009, a Riyadh court sentenced Darsem to death for murdering a relative of her Yemeni employer in Saudi Arabia. She claimed that she acted in self-defense, after he tried to rape her. Earlier in 2011, the dead man's family agreed to pardon her so long as she paid them compensation, known as diyat or blood money. The Indonesian government offered to pay the required compensation of 2 million riyals ($533,000). Indonesia's Foreign Ministry says that the diyat was paid to the family through the courts. A day later, Riyadh's Vice Governor Prince Satham Abdulazis signed Darsem's release papers, and she was able to return to Indonesia. Another Indonesian maid working in Saudi Arabia, Ruyati binti Sapubi, was executed on June 16, 2011. Her beheading caused public outrage in Indonesia and a diplomatic protest when Saudi Arabian authorities failed to inform Indonesia about the date of her execution.