Kathmandu, March 26:

A total of Rs 1.8 million has been raised to rescue Dolma Sherpa, a Nepali domestic help convicted and sentenced to death by a Kuwaiti court for murdering a Filipino woman.

An estimated Rs 5 million is required to meet the expenses in compensating the victim’s family and hiring a defence lawyer.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepali Embassy in Qatar has collected Rs 1.1 million from the Nepalis working in Qatar, while Non-Resident Nepalis have contributed Rs 300,000.

The government had allotted Rs 300,000 as seed money to be used to rescue

Dolma Sherpa.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Hira Bahadur Thapa said first secretary at the Nepali Embassy in Saudi Arabia Lok Bahadur Thapa is going to Kuwait today to negotiate the issue with Embassy of Philippines in Kuwait and start the process of hiring a defence lawyer to fight Dolma’s case.

“Although the fund raised is not enough to cover the legal expenses, there is a positive response from people regarding donating money for her rescue and we are hopeful that we can collect adequate funds to fight the case and compensate the Filipino victim,” said spokesperson Thapa.

The ministry has appealed to individuals, institutions, social organisations, charity organisations within and outside the country to help raise funds to rescue Dolma.