Expatriate serving life sentence in Bahrain freed on humanitarian grounds

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Staff Reporter

A 64-year-old expatriate inmate suffering from acute diabetes and many other health disorders has been freed on humanitarian grounds.

The Indian national took a flight to his home country last evening, highly reliable sources told The Daily Tribune yesterday.

Shahul Hameed was arrested in 2003 and was sentenced to life after the court found him guilty of illegally possessing narcotic substances.

He has been serving the sentence for the last 19 years.

Speaking to The Daily Tribune from Kuwait, Shahul Hameed’s son Nasser Shahul Hameed thanked Bahrain’s “great and kind leadership” and government for offering pardon to his father.

“It is a great relief.

We were very worried about his health status as he suffered from acute diabetes and other health disorders.”

He also thanked the Indian Embassy in Bahrain and social workers who offered great support.

His family including his wife Sakeena Shahul Hameed, their two sons and a daughter and his aged mother was awaiting this blissful moment for the last 19 years.

During these years he had lost his father & a lot of changes have happened in his family.

According to sources, Shahul’s life offers a valuable lesson for all those who engage in international travel.

“On June 9, 2003, Shahul, then a resident of Saudi Arabia, was returning from Chennai after completing his vacation. He was asked to carry baggage from Chennai by one of his close friends in Saudi and he did it without any suspicion.

“He was transiting through Bahrain to Saudi Arabia and was arrested upon arrival by authorities at Bahrain International Airport after the baggage he carried was found to have narcotic substances.

He was cheated and trapped. He has been a decent man throughout his life with no criminal antecedents in India or Saudi Arabia.

His family also suffered badly as he was the only breadwinner.”

”Never carry any unknown baggage/packets from anybody when travelling abroad.

It is good to deny that of kind requests, even if it spoils that relationship; you can save your life as well your family’s life from this kind of bad lucks and life long struggle,” he told social workers to convey his message to the entire ex-pat community in Bahrain.