Indian expat in UAE pardons Sharjah driver after son killed in freak accident

Sharjah: An Indian expat in the UAE and his wife living back home say they have pardoned the driver whose car struck their toddler son following which he died in Sharjah last week.

As reported by Gulf News last week, 22-month-old Alan Rumi died in the freak accident on Wednesday while visiting his father in the UAE with his mother from the south Indian state of Kerala. Sharjah Police had earlier confirmed that the accident took place after 7pm.

Speaking to Gulf News from their native place in Kerala, the grieving parents confirmed they have no complaint against the driver whose car hit their only child, born six years after their marriage in 2018.

According to the parents, the tragedy occurred in a sandy parking area near their residential building in Muwaileh, not on a main road.

The mother, who was with the child at the time, said she had gone to dispose of garbage in the sandy lot where trash bins are kept while her husband was at work in Dubai.

She said Alan was in a playful mood and broke free as she was throwing the rubbish away.

One of the neighbours, who had parked his car there, was taking it out at the same time and couldn’t stop in time, resulting in the child being struck, she said.

“I couldn’t catch hold of him. He was too close to the car. The driver couldn’t have seen him. It was all of a sudden. Neither of us could do anything,” the devastated mother said while recalling the horror of witnessing the accident.

She recounted that the child was knocked down. “I couldn’t believe what happened. I broke down and cried.”

The same driver rushed them to a nearby private hospital instead of waiting for an ambulance, she said.

Doctors there referred the child to a government hospital, but despite being transferred by ambulance, he could not be saved. He succumbed to internal injuries.

As per the parents’ decision, the child was laid to rest in Dubai the next day and the couple flew back home.

They revealed to Gulf News that before leaving the UAE, they clarified their stand to the authorities.

“When we got to know that he (the driver) was taken into custody for interrogation that night, I informed the police that we do not want to complain against him. We have also given it in writing,” the father said.

“Our loss is our loss. We cannot replace it, but we do not want to put another family in grief over something that happened unknowingly.”

It is not immediately known how this impacts the case. Sharjah Police told Gulf News that the police had completed their investigation and referred the case to the Public Prosecution for further action. The police urged parents and drivers to be more cautious to avoid similar accidents.

The father had relocated from Dubai to Sharjah when his family arrived for a long visit. While the mother had visited the UAE once earlier, this was her first trip with their son.

The couple said it was meant to be the family's first Ramadan together in the UAE. They had planned to extend the visit visas to spend Eid together and celebrate their son’s second birthday.

“He would have turned two on April 23,” the father said.

The grieving parents said they are slowly coming to terms with the reality.

“We have no other option,” he added.