Indian national on death row in UAE pardoned after Indian supermarket tycoon pays compensation

Indian national on death row in UAE pardoned after Indian supermarket tycoon pays compensation
Charavattayi Krishnan Becks faced the death penalty in the UAE for killing a Sudanese boy by reckless driving. He has been released from jail, following compensation paid by Indian supermarket tycoon M. A. Yusuf Ali to the victim's family.
2 min read
09 June, 2021
The family of the Sudanese boy killed after Beck's rammed his car into a group of children accepted M. A. Yusuf Ali's (pictured center) offer of 500,000 AED ($136,129) in compensation [Getty]

An Indian national facing the death penalty in the UAE has flown home after Indian supermarket tycoon M. A. Yusuf Ali paid "blood money" to the victim's family, local media have reported.

Becks arrived at Cochin International Airport for an emotional reunion with his family late Tuesday, after the procedures involving UAE judicial and jail authorities were concluded.

Charavattayi Krishnan Becks, 45, was found guilty of killing an eight-year-old Sudanese boy by Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Court in September 2012 after his vehicle drove into a group of children near the industrial town of Musaffah. He was sentenced to death by firing squad in 2013.

Becks' family campaigned for his release but to no avail. The family of the eight-year-old victim returned to their native Sudan, reportedly rejecting the offer of 200,000 Emirati dirhams ($54,451) Beck’s family offered as blood money to secure his release.

His family then turned to UAE-based Yusuf Ali, the billionaire founder of pan-Gulf supermarket chain Lulu, who reportedly flew to see the family of the victim for negotiations.

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The Sudanese family eventually agreed in January and accepted Yusuf Ali's offer of 500,000 ($136,129) in compensation.

Yusuf Ali, who became the first recipient of the UAE's golden residency permit in 2019, denied his assistance was a voluntary act of Islamic charity.

While the UAE still issues death sentences, primarily against foreign nationals for various crimes, it rarely carries them out, according to rights group Amnesty International.

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