Telangana urges UAE government to approve mercy petition of five workers

Hyderabad, Sep (IANS) Telangana minister K. T. Rama Rao has urged the United Arab Emirates government to consider and approve the mercy petition of five workers from Telangana lodged in a jail in Dubai in a murder case.

The minister, who is in Dubai on a business trip, met the UAE government officials on Wednesday as part of the efforts to get the workers repatriated at the earliest.

KTR, as Rao is popularly known, spoke to the Indian Consul General in Dubai, the UAE lawyer who is handling the case, and other government officials to enquire about the status of the case and urged for the mercy petition approval, according to a statement released in Hyderabad.

Shivarathri Mallesh, Shivarathri Ravi, Gollem Nampally, Dundugula Laxman, and Shivarathri Hanmanthu, all from Rajanna Sircilla district, are lodged in Aweer Jail in Dubai in connection with the death case of a Nepali and they have already completed sentence of 15 years.

KTR had earlier personally visited Nepal to meet the deceased’s family members to hand over Rs 15 lakh as compensation or ‘Diyyah’ (blood money) as per Sharia Law.

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. Six months ago, the minister enquired about the progress of the case and made several attempts to get the five workers released.

During his latest trip to Dubai, KTR once again brought the facts of the case to the notice of Indian consul officials and the Dubai government officers.

He requested the UAE government to approve the mercy petition considering that the five convicts have already served a sentence of 15 years and also hold a good conduct certificate from the jail authorities.

As the Dubai court has rejected the case, KTR urged the officials to get the five Indian nationals repatriated with the approval of the mercy petition by UAE ruler Sheikh Mohammed.

The minister had earlier met a few businessmen who have close ties with the ruler’s family and requested their help in the release of the workers.

The businessmen assured that they would take up the issue with the Dubai government within the purview of the local laws.

KTR also made an earnest appeal to Indian Consul General Ram Kumar to put special efforts into solving the case and promised all the support at the personal level and also from the government side.