What does being released from the ‘death row' really feel like, especially when you are in another country and have endured the entire ordeal of being sentenced to death without the love and support of family and friends? Four Indian expatriates sentenced to death for killing fellow countryman, 24-year-old Muhammad Ashraf, will experience just that when they walk free after the deceased's father spared their lives against blood money. In a dramatic scene at a court in Riyadh this week, Abdul Kader, Ashraf's father, received SR680,000 (equivalent to eight million Indian rupees) as blood money and spared the lives of the four individuals convicted for the murder of his son. They will be set free soon. The perpetrators of the murder, all in their late 20s, belonged to the southern Indian state of Kerala and include Mustaffa Kunnath (26) from Perintalmanna, Mohammed Fasaluddin (26) from Kannur, Mohammed Mustaffa (28) from Palakkad and Mohammad Sakir Hussain (27) from Thiruvananthapuram. Kunnath told Saudi Gazette that he could not express his feelings because he was so happy about being released from the charges. “I have gotten a new lease on life and with that, everything has changed for me,” he said. While recounting the past three years he has spent on death row – ever since being convicted in 2008 – Kunnath said his life had been full of hallucinations and anxiety. He said everyone in his family – comprising of his parents, a wife and his three-year-old daughter Alia – were crying and praying to God. “However, since this new twist in the case, we all are sharing happy moments,” he remarked. Kunnath said life on the death row has changed his life. He was never an overtly religious person before the death sentenced was pronounced and seldom offered the five obligatory daily prayers or observed fasting during the month of Ramadan. He said that he had always been a bit temperamental in life and that led him to commit a crime that he would repent for the rest of his life. “The feeling that I would have been executed by now forces me to repent more for what I have done,” he said, referring to that fateful day when he and the three others killed Ashraf – a native of the state of Karnataka in India. Kunnath said it was not a premeditated murder. He said an argument started on a petty issue and turned into a fist-fight against Ashraf, who used to share a room with the other four. “We were caught red-handed when we tried to bury Ashraf's body on the night of the killing,” Kunnath said. “Life now has a new meaning for me now. I am offering my prayers and observing fasting in Ramadan.” Kunnath was speaking on behalf of the other inmates because they do not know any other language except Malayalam, their mother tongue. “Everyone is happy about getting a new lease on life,” he remarked. Kunnath also said that he would try to do his best to help the family of the deceased. “We all thank Kader for his decision to spare our lives against blood money. We also thank Shihab Kotukad, who pursued the case untiringly, the Indian Embassy and the utmost gratitude to Omman Chandi, Menon, the Saudi mediator and everyone else for their humanitarian gestures,” he said. Shihab Kotukad, the general secretary of Pravasi Rehabilitation Center, a Riyadh-based social organization, said blood money was normally arranged after the parents and wives of the convicts had submitted a plea application to Omman Chandi, former Kerala Chief Minister. Chandi would then urge him to intervene in the case and try to save the lives of the families' only breadwinners. Kotukad, a social activist who has been engaged in helping fellow Indians in jail or involved in labor disputes with employers for a long time in Riyadh, said the process of convincing Kader to spare the lives of the four men started after the court awarded them the death sentence some three years ago. The Kerala Chief Minister's office also intervened after the families of the convicts launched a mercy appeal. Family members of the four convicts kept calling from India, urging Kottakad to persuade Kader and try to get a lenient punishment from the court on the pretext that the murder was not pre-mediated, said Kottakad. He added that Chandi was instrumental in raising the blood money, appointing a Gulf-based non-resident Indian businessman C.K. Menon, who intervened with the help of the Indian Embassy in Riyadh. Menon paid the blood money through Muhammad Hamim, a Saudi mediator at a court hearing that was attended by members of the Indian Embassy and other relevant parties in Riyadh, Tuesday. “We have the settled the case today, which can serve as an example for others trapped in similar legal situations,” Kotukad stated. “Chandi was instrumental in raising SR680,000 as blood money but it took some time to convince Kader to accept the deal,” said Kotukad. Kader, who works as a vegetable vendor in India said he has received the blood money “but I still feel that the untimely killing of my son is something that's an irreparable loss of life and cannot be replaced with money”. The four convicts will be released after completing the stipulated jail term under public order offence. According to the court ruling, although the four men have been pardoned on the basis of private rights, they still have to complete a jail-term for breaching public rights.
