RIYADH, 17 April 2003 — It is now more than 14 years since Thevala Sainudeen Rawther Bedarudeen died in a traffic accident in Al-Ahsa in the Eastern Province. But his family is still waiting for the blood money of SR100,000 deposited for him at the Al-Ahsa labor court.
It is a story of red tape, missing files, and an a string of e-mails.
In messages e-mailed to Arab News and other newspapers, the relatives of the deceased urged the media to bring the matter to public attention in the hope of expediting the case.
Bedarudeen, who was working under the sponsorship of Saleh Muhammad Aziz Abdul Khader of Mabarraz, Al-Ahsa, died in a traffic accident on Jan. 2, 1989, according to Tara Chand of the Indian Embassy’s community welfare wing.
The person convicted of killing him deposited the blood money in favor of Bedarudeen’s next of kin with the labor court at Al-Ahsa. And that, for 14 years, was where it remained.
Muhammad Faizal, a friend of the deceased, said the heirs authorized the Indian Embassy to expedite the settlement of the case. The embassy was subsequently informed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that a sum of SR100,000 had been deposited with the civil rights department in Al-Ahsa.
In an e-mail, Tara Chand informed Faizal that “various officers from this embassy visited Al-Ahsa Shariah Court/Governorate and came to know that (the most important police file in the case has) not been traceable for years.”
The message continued: “During the last visit in November 1996 we were able to trace the movement of the file and (the) civil rights department in Al-Ahsa advised us to contact the governor’s office.”
The governor’s office provided the reference number — Ref. No. 3390/5SWAD dated 6.9.1410H — under which the case was referred to the civil rights department in Dammam. Embassy representatives tried to locate the case file through the Dammam civil rights department, but to no avail.
The case, it was pointed out, could not be pursued after August 1997, when the embassy requested the Foreign Ministry in Riyadh help arrange a court hearing. The embassy, on its part, blames the legal heirs for their failure to follow up on the case after 1995.
The embassy has the requisite documents, namely the power of attorney and legal heirship certificate, and will attend the hearing once a court date is set.
That is where the matter currently stands. Perhaps more prompt follow-up on the part of the Indian Embassy as well as the heirs could have helped to expedite the settlement.
