Abdul Kareem Cherumala, a sick Indian worker from Mampuzha, Malappuram in Kerala, who was staying in a shelter, will be repatriated home to Calicut, Kerala, on Monday after a voluntary group helped him to get a final exit from his sponsor.

Kareem, who sustained 40 percent burn injuries in his body while working at his sponsor’s workshop a year and a half ago and was subsequently hospitalized at Al-Iman hospital Riyadh for 3 weeks, was accommodated at a shelter run by the Indian Embassy at Batha.

As he had major burn injuries, he was forced to take bed rest for almost 7 months.

Speaking to Arab News, Kareem said that the accident was due to a fire at the workshop owned by his sponsor at New Sanaiya.

“The workshop caught fire due to an electric short circuit, while we were at work. Some workers escaped unhurt or with minor injuries, but I was severely burned. By the time the firefighters doused the flames, the workshop was partially damaged,” he said.

According to Kareem, he did not get any salary during the time he was recovering. However, he did receive an allowance of SR200 for seven months to purchase medicines.

Kareem further said that when he was able to walk with crutches, he requested for an exit to continue his treatment at home but his sponsor Ibrahim Abdullah Al-Madani asked him to pay a hefty amount as compensation for the damage to the workshop caused by the fire.

Later he agreed to do the procedures for the “exit” but refused to hand over the passport demanding compensation for the damage to the workshop. Kareem said that the sponsor finally gave him the exit late last month and his passport was handed over to him through Rafi Pangodu, a treasurer with the Federation of Kerala Associations in Saudi Arabia (FOKASA), a voluntary organization of people from Kerala, after he requested Rafi for help.

The sponsor finally agreed to give up the claim for the workshop damage on compassionate grounds but Kareem had to bear the costs of the cancelation of the first exit and other fines for iqama renewal. However, Kareem’s friends helped him to raise the money to clear all his liabilities, clearing the way for his departure.

According to Kareem, when the grace period was announced by the Kingdom last year, he tried to get an exit from the deportation center after receiving an emergency certificate from the embassy. However, the exit was denied because the previous exit was not canceled by the sponsor.

Kareem is the sole breadwinner of his family, consisting of his father, mother, wife and 2 children.