Indian inmates in UAE refuse settlement by blood money

The 17 Indians, 16 from the Punjab and one from Haryana, were awarded death in March this year by a Sharjah court which found them guilty for the murder of a Misri Nazir Khan, a Pakistani national, near a Sharjah labour camp over bootlegging dispute in January 2009.

Blood money is paid to the next of kin of a murder victim as a fine. The convicted Indians spurned a proposal to settle the case by paying blood compensation to the family of the Pakistani man, who was hacked to death in Sharjah in a brawl to sell illicit liquor.

Bindu Suresh Chettur, lawyer of the Indians,  said “the family of the Pakistani man told the court that they were ready to accept compensation including blood money but we refused because justice is on our side.

“The prosecution has failed to establish the relationship between the offence, weapon with which crime was committed and the scene of the crime. No evidence has yet been brought before us,” she said.

According to her, evidence cannot be accepted in the light that no weapon has yet been presented before the court as evidence. “It is the duty of the prosecution to establish that the weapon which was used to commit the crime is present before the court. That hasn’t happened,” she said.

The court has fixed February 17 as the next date for hearing. During the previous hearing in the Sharjah Appeals court, on December 17, the defence was prepared to cross-examine the evidence that the prosecution was to bring to the court but that didn’t materialise.