Three killers freed after hotelier pays blood money

Three Indian men sentenced to death for murder were released from a Sharjah jail this week after a Dubai businessman paid nearly Dh150,000 in blood money.

PK, KL and TS, all in their 20s and from the north Indian state of Punjab, returned to India yesterday, where they said that they were innocent and had been forced to sign documents that they could not read, according to Agence France-Presse.

They had been charged in the 2008 murder of an Indian man, Bikram Jeet Singh, during an alcohol bootlegging dispute. They were sentenced to death in 2009.

Indian hotelier SP Singh Oberoi, who has financed the release of others facing the death penalty, heard of the case while on a goodwill prison visit to provide Indian inmates with phone cards to call home. A court approved the agreement that he brokered after members of the three men's families formally offered an apology to the victim's family.

Mr Oberoi, who is the founder of the Indian Punjabi Society in Dubai, said he flew back to India with the men after arranging blood-money payments. The men had already served two years for bootlegging.

"I took each one to their homes, all their family were there, they were so happy and crying from happiness," he said. "The three were taken in for bootleg and murder, but the family finally approved blood money and they were let out."

According to the penal code, crimes of murder, accidental death or grievous bodily harm can be resolved with diyya, or blood money payments. In capital crimes, this right is referred to as al qasas, which gives the blood money heirs the right to seek capital punishment but revokes any claim to blood money if they do.

econroy@thenational.ae

LOVE%20AGAIN

%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Jim%20Strouse%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStars%3A%20Priyanka%20Chopra%20Jonas%2C%20Sam%20Heughan%2C%20Celine%20Dion%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Juvenile arthritis

Along with doctors, families and teachers can help pick up cases of arthritis in children.
Most types of childhood arthritis are known as juvenile idiopathic arthritis. JIA causes pain and inflammation in one or more joints for at least six weeks.
Dr Betina Rogalski said "The younger the child the more difficult it into pick up the symptoms. If the child is small, it may just be a bit grumpy or pull its leg a way or not feel like walking,” she said.
According to The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in US, the most common symptoms of juvenile arthritis are joint swelling, pain, and stiffness that doesn’t go away. Usually it affects the knees, hands, and feet, and it’s worse in the morning or after a nap.
Limping in the morning because of a stiff knee, excessive clumsiness, having a high fever and skin rash are other symptoms. Children may also have swelling in lymph nodes in the neck and other parts of the body.
Arthritis in children can cause eye inflammation and growth problems and can cause bones and joints to grow unevenly.
In the UK, about 15,000 children and young people are affected by arthritis.

Business Insights

Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs