The Indian Government has instructed its consulate in Dubai to conduct a detailed investigation into a diya money scam involving Indian lawyers and their agents in the UAE who have allegedly duped families of Indian nationals who died in road accidents and work-related incidents here.
Diya is compensation paid to the family of a person who is killed in an accident or murdered.
Indian mission officials said they received several complaints about fraudulent claims of diya money (blood money) due to Indian families whose bread earners died in accidents. Diya (blood money) is a form of compensation to dependents following the willful or accidental taking of a life.
Viju V Nair, son of an Indian driver who died in December 1997 in a road has lodged formal complaints against Mumbai-based Indian advocates and their counterparts in UAE who allegedly collected diya money worth Dh150,280 from UAE courts but did not give a single penny to the family.
Viju’s father, KR Viswanathan Nair, was working in the UAE for 20 years, and for seven years till his death with Abu Dhabi-based Al Muhairy General Contracting company. He died in a road accident in Shahama, Abu Dhabi–Sharjah road in December, 1997. While changing a punctured tire, he was hit by another vehicle, which drove away without stopping.
“The accident happened at 10.30pm and the body was spotted by the Abu Dhabi Police Patrol. We did know anything about the compensation and my uncle who worked here too did not have much idea,” says Vinu, his elder son, who started investigating the case after getting a job in the UAE.
Emirates 24|7
