Indian Stuck in 8-Year-Old Blood Money Case in UAE Gets Relief

An elderly NRI got relief from an 8-year-old pending blood money case in the United Arab Emirates. AS Sankarnarayanan, 61, was helped by the Emirates Islamic Bank to settle the case, in which he was supposed to pay Dh200,000 to the family of a Bangladeshi worker who died of an electric shock at his labor accommodation in 2009.

Sankarnarayanan was stuck in the UAE for eight years since he was unable to pay the amount. He flew home last week and reunited with his wife and daughter in Kerala.

According to Sankarnarayanan, he had no direct connection to the case, and had submitted his passport in Sharjah court to officiate his former employer, Gulf News reported. “He [the worker] worked for our sister concern,” the publication quoted him as saying. “As the case advanced in the court, my employer requested me to officiate him on his behalf as he had to travel frequently. Being the first and an obedient employee having a good relationship with the owner, and in good faith, I submitted my passport in the court allowing him to retrieve his passport.”

He added: “To my bad luck, the court verdict that came in 2010 said that I am responsible for paying the blood money of Dh200,000 to the worker’s family.”

His appeal in the lower court was dismissed, following which no appeal was made in the Federal Supreme Court. Sankarnarayanan’s employer told him that he would settle the blood money but he died of cardiac arrest in 2013.

The employer’s son, who took over the electromechanical company based in Sharjah, refused to take responsibility for the liability. Sankarnarayanan was working as office supervisor with the company until a year ago.

For settling this case, Sankarnarayanan expressed gratitude towards the Emirates Islamic Bank for paying off the blood money and the publication for bringing his story to their attention, besides the Indian Consulate of Dubai and Indian People’s Forum. The bank took cognizance of his case after a story of his predicament came out on April 2 this year.

“Without the support of all these kind people I wouldn’t have been able to leave even now,” he said.

The bank felt Islamic banks have a social responsibility to the people as per the teachings of the religion. “He had managed to collect some portion of the blood money,” Awatif Al Harmoudi, general manager, Operational Governance-Emirates Islamic said, the report added. “However, we extended the contribution of the entire amount [through the Emirates Islamic Charity Fund], allowing him to resume a normal life after his release, especially as he is more than 60 years old.”