Convict's father dies of anxiety

Dubai: An anxious father of one of the 17 Indians sentenced to death for the murder of a Pakistani in a bootlegging turf war in Sharjah has died of a heart attack, XPRESS has learnt.

"I wish I could see him. This is a regret that will weigh on me all my life," the mourning convict, Kashmir Singh, told his brother Buta Singh when he visited him in a Sharjah prison on May 18.

Buta Singh, who was flown in from Punjab by Dubai businessman S.P. Singh Oberoi, said his father Mohinder Singh could never reconcile with his son's sentence. "He came to know about it last year and was very disturbed ever since," he said, adding that the 73-year-old succumbed to a heart attack on April 24. "I attended the family prayer meeting at Kashmir Singh's village (Bhog) on May 4. The families of 15 of the 17 Indians involved in the case were present," said Oberoi.

The Sharjah Court of Appeal, which meets for the 13th hearing in the case on May 19, had adjourned the last hearing on April 28, allowing more time for a possible settlement over blood money between the 17 Indians and the family of the Pakistani victim Misri Khan. Buta Singh, who came down with Harbans Singh, the father of another convict, Satnam Singh, said they were both attending the hearing.

"My father's death is a big blow to the family," he said, adding that he could no longer work as his right hand was run over by a tractor. "Kashmir is in jail and our third brother is a labourer, earning less than Rs100 a day." Oberoi said in addition to the Indian Punjabi Society's monthly grant of Rs2,500 (Dh204) to each of the 17 families, he would provide Rs2,500 (Dh204) to Kashmir Singh's family.

One of the convict's two daughters, who is a special needs child, will also be treated at his expense.