Indian man flies home with wife’s body after paying Dh200,000 blood money

Ras Al Khaimah: An Indian man, whose wife was killed in a car crash after he dozed off while driving, managed to fly home with her body after paying Dh200,000 blood money.

Divya Praveen, 25, died while her husband Praveen P.A. and two-year-old son Daksh, escaped unhurt in the accident that happened in the wee hours of Sunday in Ras Al Khaimah.

As reported by Gulf News, the distraught husband had confessed to have slept while driving when the family was returning after attending a festival in Sharjah.

Divya had performed a traditional dance held as part of the Dhanumasa Thiruvathira festival marked by Malayali women for the wellbeing of their husbands.

On Wednesday, a court in Ras Al Khaimah found the husband guilty of causing the accident after he dozed off and hit a sign post in Kharran area. The court ordered him to pay Dh200,000 as blood money to the heirs of Divya and another Dh2500 fine for damaging the signpost in the accident, community sources said.

“After the court order came, he was locked up in the police station for a few hours,” said Pushpan Govindan, a social worker with Indian Relief Committee that assisted the family with the repatriation procedures.

He said Praveen’s friends and relatives arranged the whole amount in cash within three hours and managed to get him released.

Following this, Praveen and his son accompanied Divya’s body that was flown to their hometown in Palakkad district in the south Indian state of Kerala from Dubai around 2.30 am on Thursday.

Social workers said the bereaved husband may be eligible to claim insurance amount after completing the necessary legal procedures later.