Sharjah: The Sharjah Court of Appeal has postponed hearing in the motion filed on behalf of 17 Indians who were meted the death penalty for killing a Pakistani man and for causing serious injuries to three others in Saja'a area, Gulf News has learnt.

The appellants appeared before the court yesterday together with their lawyers and the Indian consul-general. The court reset the hearing to June 16 as the representative of the victim's family was out of the country.

Likewise, no Punjabi translator was available to assist the appellants. According to an official, the translator on court duty yesterday only speaks Urdu.

The Indian consul-general offered to provide a Punjabi translator when the court reconvenes on June 16.

The Sharjah Sharia Court of First Instance earlier sentenced the 17 to death after they were found guilty of brutally beating up the victim to death and severely injuring three others in a fight that broke out in the Saja'a area in January last year.

Bootlegging

According to police documents, Mishri Khan Nazar Khan was attacked with knives, metal bars and clubs. The appellants, who were into the bootlegging trade, alsoattempted to kill four others, identified as Mohammad Nawaz, Mushtaq Ahmad, Shahid Iqbal, all Pakistanis, and S. Raju, an Indian. The four sustained serious injuries and were hospitalised for a long time. According to court documents, the 17 escaped to the Al Nasirya area in Sharjah after committing the crime.

They were among the 48 Indians who were arrested for running a gang that illegally sold alcohol to labourers.

Police said the 17 operated in the Al Saja'a area and were said to beat up anyone who attempts to venture into the illegal trade without their permission.

Nazar Khan's death left his wife and newborn daughter, parents, three brothers and a sisterin extreme poverty.

The family, through a power of attorney, had designated a relative, who also lives in Sharjah, to represent them in court where they sought the death penalty for Nazar Khan's killers.

Nazar Khan came to Sharjah to work and support his poor family who lives in the village of Salam Tahsil Bhalwal in Sargodha district of Pakistan's Punjab province.

The family of the victim said their lives had been virtually ruined after his death.