IT and Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao has urged the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government to consider and approve the mercy petition of five NRIs from Rajanna Sircilla district languishing at the Aweer jail in Dubai.
The Minister, who was in Dubai on Wednesday on a business trip, met the UAE government officials to intensify his efforts to get the NRIs repatriated at the earliest. Mr. Rama Rao spoke to the Indian Consul General in Dubai, the Arab lawyer who is handling the case, and other government officials, to inquire about the status of the case and urged for the mercy petition approval.
Five Indian nationals named Shivarathri Mallesh, Shivarathri Ravi, Gollem Nampally, Dundugula Laxman and Shivarathri Hanmanthu are lodged in Dubai prison in connection with the death of a Nepali and they have already completed a sentence of 15 years.
He personally visited Nepal to meet the deceased’s family members to hand over ₹15 lakh as ‘victim’s compensation’ as per Sharia Law ‘Diyyah’ (also referred to as ‘blood money’). Later, the victim’s family submitted the mercy petition documents to the UAE government. However, due to some reasons and the gravity of the crime, the UAE government didn’t approve the mercy petition. Even six months ago, the Minister inquired about the progress of the case and made several attempts to get them released.
During his latest trip to Dubai, Mr. Rama Rao once again brought the facts of the case to the notice of Indian Consulate officials and Dubai government officials. Expressing concern, he requested the UAE government to approve the mercy petition considering that the five NRIs had already served 15 years and also hold a good conduct certificate from the jail authorities.
As the Dubai court has rejected the case, the Minister urged the officials that he had met to get the five nationals repatriated with the approval of the mercy petition by UAE ruler Sheikh Mohammed. Also, he had earlier met a few businessmen who have close ties with the ruler’s family and requested their help in the release of the NRIs. The businessmen assured that they would take up the issue with the Dubai government within the purview of the local laws.
The Minister made an earnest appeal to Indian Consul General Ram Kumar to put special efforts into solving the case and promised all the support at personal level and also from the government’s side.
