🖊Hana Zaratsion and Sumanitan Natarajan, BBC

“ We held all these rituals to help the family and for them to accept that he is dead. But I will not find solace.” These are the words of Kinfe Argaovi, a father mourning his son, Kaibrom.

He says: “ This story will bring me regret and sorrow for the rest of my life.”

Kaibrom Kinfe Argaovi was one of five Ethiopian citizens who were executed in June in Saudi Arabia on charges of drug trafficking of hashish. Saudi Arabia has consistently been among the countries that carry out the most executions in the world, ranking third after China and Iran.

Official religious burial is one of the essential pillars of faith for many Ethiopian Orthodox Christians; so that the body is wrapped in a complex ceremonial shroud and placed in a wooden coffin. But it wasn’t possible to hold the ceremony for this 25-year-old in that way, because his body was not returned to his hometown.

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📷Mebrahtom‌/Family supplied/ Kinfe Aregawi