Sharjah court waives death penalty for 8 Indians

A court in Sharjah on Monday waived the death sentence awarded to eight young men from Punjab for the murder of a Pakistani national after a Dubai-based Indian hotelier paid blood money to the family of the victim on their behalf.

The murder took place on July 11, 2009 following which 10 men, eight Indians and two Pakistanis, were arrested. The death penalty of the two Pakistani men has also been waived off after Dubai-based hotelier SP Singh Oberoi paid the blood money.

"The death penalty has been waived off for all the 10 accused, eight Indians and two Pakistanis. They have to serve a three-year jail term of which they have already completed 21 months. So they will be free in another six months and will be deported directly to their home countries," Oberoi told PTI following the verdict on Sunday.

Several such cases involving Punjabi youths allegedly embroiled in bootlegging turf battle have come to light in recent times. This is not the first time Oberoi has come to their rescue.

The latest case involved the murder of Pakistani national Mumtaz Yousuf, who hailed from Faislabad.

Oberoi said that on November 24, 2009 he, along with the victim's father, appeared in court and registered a compromise statement.

"The honourable Judge accepted our request and on February 1 this year I paid the blood money to Mohammad Yousuf in court in the presence of the jury. I submitted the required documents in the court on February 6 following which the case was closed and February 28 was fixed as the judgment date. However, this date was then postponed to March 27 (Sunday) when the verdict was finally delivered," he said.

Oberoi said several such cases are pending in Dubai and they involve over 60 young men from Punjab.