8 Indians escape gallows in Sharjah

Death penalty for eight Indian youths was on Sunday waived b a Shariat court in Sharjah after the father of the victim accepted blood money paid by a Dubai-based Indian hotelier on behalf of the youths.

Hotelier SP Singh paid the blood money on their behalf and secured the waiver of the death sentence for the eight Indians and two Pakistanis, convicted in the same crime, reports said Monday.

Pakistani national Mumtaz Yousuf was killed on July 11, 2009, following which 10 men, eight Indians and two Pakistanis, were arrested.

Though the death peanlty has been waived, the accused have to serve a three year term of imprisonment on charges of bootlegging, of which they have already served 21 months.

This is the first case in which such a large number of Punjabi youths have escaped the gallows by paying blood money.

The Indian youths convicted in the case are Kuldip Singh, Sachin Kumar Sharma, Rakesh Kumar, Rashwinder Pal, Sukhpal Singh, Hardev Singh, Charanjeet and Amarjeet Singh, while the two Pakistanis are Mohammed Ansar Chaudhary and Shahid Hussain Ifthreen Rana.