Abu Dhabi court waives death penalty of 10 youths

Sanjiv Kumar Bakshi

Hoshiarpur, March 22

An Abu Dhabi court has waived the death sentence awarded to 10 Punjabi youths for the murder of a Pakistani national after a Dubai-based Indian businessman paid blood money to the family of the victim on their behalf.

It was a day of happiness for the families of the youths as the Al Ain Court in Abu Dhabi remitted the death sentence of the youths. They were convicted in the murder case of Pakistani national Mohammad Faran in 2015. The court ordered to remit their death penalty after apology letters by the deceased’s family in Pakistan’s Peshawar were deposited in the court. Also, the deceased’s father appeared in the court today and pardoned the youths in lieu of the blood money.

Dubai-based businessman SPS Oberoi deposited Rs 60 lakh blood money in the court. He is also the chairman of the Sarbat Da Bhala Trust in Dubai. Although the court has waived the death penalty, they may remain behind the bars for charges of bootlegging. The court has given the final date of hearing on April 12.

Oberoi said a team of the Sarbat Da Bhala Trust had taken the deceased’s family’s consent after visiting them in Pakistan.

“Initially the deceased’s father was reluctant, but finally our team succeeded in getting their consent to pardon the convicts and a consent letter was deposited in the court on February 27,” he added. Before this, Oberoi has saved 78 lives, including 17 Indians, by paying blood money and with today’s death penalty waivers, the number has reached 88.

The 10 youths are Satmider Singh of Barnala, Chander Shekhar of Hoshiarpur, Darshan Singh of Malerkotla, Kulwinder Singh of Ludhiana, Balwinder Singh of Ludhiana, Dharam Singh of Samrala, Harjinder Singh of Mohali, Tarsem Singh of Amritsar, Gurpreet Singh of Patiala and Jagjit Singh of Gurdaspur.