Pudari Balaram Rajanna, an Indian expatriate who was confined to a hospital bed due to serious illness and lack of identification, has returned home, but the legal battle for his medical bills amounting to more than half a million riyals is expected to continue.
The patient was repatriated to Chennai on Saturday morning accompanied by Shihab Kottukad, an Indian social worker.
The Indian Embassy in Riyadh issued the travel document and also made arrangements for fingerprinting for immigration clearance. The patient was taken to the deportation center in an ambulance by the embassy, which also provided tickets and an accompanying person to travel to India with funding from the ICWF.
Sibi George, deputy chief of mission, followed up the case and provided assistance.
Rajanna, from Andhra Pradesh in India, had arrived in the Kingdom to work as a shepherd in the Al-Quwaya area about a decade ago, but escaped from the airport immediately after landing to work as a construction laborer in Riyadh, according to sources.
He was found unconscious at the entrance of a private hospital in Riyadh on Aug. 6, 2012 and was diagnosed with a neurological disorder due to cerebral hemorrhaging, in addition to paralysis and stroke.
The hospital provided treatment which, sources say, amounted to over half a million riyals and for which the hospital is demanding a reimbursement from the Ministry of Health.
The hospital has also hired a Riyadh-based law firm to sue the Ministry of Health and fight their case at a Riyadh-based court.
According to sources, the patient had no documents except for a copy of the family’s Indian ration card that proves that he is an Indian national, but has no copies of his iqama or passport.
Rajanna’s family in India were in the dark about his whereabouts and had tried to locate him without success before. After extensive efforts spanning several months, he revealed information that led them to his friends in Riyadh, who gave more information about the patient.
Bedridden Indian expat finally returns home
