DAMMAM, 3 March 2003 — Shirley lost her husband in a traffic accident in the Eastern Province in May 1997, and thanks to bureaucratic hiccups and the lethargy of a few officials she has still not received any compensation.
Sasidharan came from India to the Kingdom to earn enough money to make his family’s life comfortable. Instead, his family lost its sole breadwinner when Sasidharan was killed in a road accident on May 3, 1997.
His wife Shirley approached the authorities for compensation and, after a wait of nearly three years, the case was heard in Qatif Court in June 2,000. The presiding judge awarded compensation of SR9,000 including an ex-gratia payment of SR2,334.
While the amount was low, it was expected to reach Sasidharan’s widow. But to date she has received nothing.
Her brother, V.P. Ramadas, who also works in Dammam, has been knocking on the doors of courts, police stations, the civil rights court without success. He has sent petitions to the Indian ambassador to expedite the case, again without any result.
Nearly three years after the verdict, embassy officials have not been able to get the money to the widow, who has three daughters and is finding it extremely difficult to make ends meet.
According to the Indian Embassy, the other party to the accident has already deposited the money at the concerned police station, and embassy representatives visited the police station a number of times to collect it. Second Secretary at the Indian mission in Riyadh Tara Chand said in a letter that “the file is reportedly not traceable at the Civil Rights Department in North Dammam,” adding that the embassy will “vigorously pursue that matter.”
