KOCHI: The Keralite who was freed from Abu Dhabi jail after NRI businessman M A Yusuff Ali paid the compensation (blood-money) of Rs 1 crore (500,000 dirhams) to the victim's family reached Kochi early on Wednesday.
Becks Krishnan, 45, a native of Puthenchira in Kerala's Thrissur district, has been languishing in Al Wathba prison in Abu Dhabi for the past seven years as the UAE Supreme Court sentenced him to capital punishment in 2013 after the car he was driving killed a young Sudani boy near the industrial town of Musaffah, south-west of Abu Dhabi.
"This is second life to me. I'm thankful to Yusuff Ali, who has been pursuing the case and negotiating with the victim's family over the last several months," Becks Krishnan told reporters outside the Kochi airport, accompanied by his wife Veena and son Adwaidh.
Yusuff Ali said he deposited 500,000 dirhams in January at the Abu Dhabi court after convincing Sudani boy's family to pardon the Keralite. "We need to convince both the parents. And they agreed on the blood money after protracted negotiations over several months," he said. Since the boy's family had returned to Sudan and settled there, the NRI businessman also had to fly down to the African country for negotiations.
Becks Krishnan was working with a private company in Abu Dhabi when on September 7, 2012, he was driving to Musaffah to attend a job-related meeting. He lost control over the wheel and the car rammed into a group of kids playing on the roadside. A young Sudani boy died in the accident and the Abu Dhabi police slapped murder charges against him. "Anything could have gone wrong during the negotiations, but since he (Yusuff Ali) was directly involved, I was hopeful that I may escape capital punishment," Krishnan said.
After the accident, the police collected CCTV footage as proof and the court awarded the death penalty to Krishnan. As all their efforts to save him failed, the family approached Yusuff Ali with the help of BJP leader Sethumadhavan. Since the family of the victim had returned and settled in Sudan, the efforts for mediation had become impossible.
Yusuff Ali collected the whereabouts of the family in Sudan and flew down to the African country. In January, the family of the victim agreed to pardon Krishnan after extensive parleys. Yusuff Ali brought the family of the victim to Abu Dhabi for talks at one stage. Once the family agreed to pardon Krishnan, Yusuff Ali paid the compensation of 5 lakh dirhams.