RIYADH, 6 December 2005 — An expatriate worker jailed in Dammam for partially blinding a Saudi national in a fight may lose one eye by court order.
Abdul Lateef Naushad, 34, from the south Indian state of Kerala, got into a fight with a Saudi and injured the Saudi’s eye. The Saudi reportedly lost the sight in that eye several weeks later.
The incident happened in 2003. The case has now been referred to the appeals court in Riyadh for final review.
“The Indian Embassy will make an appeal for royal clemency,” said an embassy official. The embassy, which was unaware of the case until recently, has contacted the worker’s sponsor who is attempting to help the Indian worker.
According to the sentence by a court in Dammam, one of Naushad’s eyes should be gouged out as punishment for causing the Saudi to lose the sight in one eye. The case has now been transferred to the Higher Court in Riyadh following an appeal.
Saudi and Indian officials have shown sympathy for Naushad and have come forward to help.
Naushad’s wife Sulekha, 30, and their two children live in Kerala. Naushad has not seen his three-year-old daughter because he has been in jail for the last three years.
Sulekha also looks after Naushad’s parents. They are surviving on the kindness of Naushad’s friends who regularly send them money.
According to Naushad’s colleagues who are witnesses in the case, a settlement appears remote as the Saudi is adamant and refuses to accept monetary compensation and pardon the man despite concerted efforts by the defendant’s lawyer and his employer.
In a similar case recently, the same sentence was given to an Egyptian who threw acid into the eyes of a Saudi.
