Lebanon govt pays compensation to widow of war victim

Kendrapada, Nov 8 (UNI) The Lebanese government has paid 13,000 US dollars as compensation to Sakuntala Swain, widow of an Oriya workers Debesh Kumar Swain (42), who was killed on July 19 last year in Beca during the Israel-Lebanon war.

Debesh was the only Indian worker who was killed, along with two others from Pakistan and another from Bangladesh, during the air strike by Israeli forces.

Shakuntala had demanded from the Lebanon government compensation for her husband's untimely death after a small portion of a wall of a glass factory fell on Debesh during the Israeli air strike on Lebanon.

Official sources said the Second Secretary of Indian Embassy in Beirut T K Baxi helped her to get the compensation. The compensation amount was sent to India's embassy in Beirut which, in turn, forwarded it to the Foreign Affairs Ministry in New Delhi.

The Ministry later sent the amount to the Kendrapada District Magistrate Kashinath Sahu. The draft was handed over to the widow by Pattamundai Tahasildar Kailash Chandra Nayak, who paid a visit to the deceased native village at Khadipala.

Debesh was working as a supervisor in the Maliban Best glass factory in Beka Valley in Lebanon since the last eight years. Earlier, the family members also received 20,000 dollars as a compensation amount from the glass factory owner.

UNI