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Dubai: He has spent ten long years in prison with a death sentence hanging over him.
But the long drawn fight for mercy by his embassy has seen the Sri Lankan convicted of murder become a free man.
Abdul Rahim Farooq, 43, was released and repatriated last week along with his accomplice in the crime after the victim's family granted him a pardon in exchange for Dh300,000 as blood money.
Farooq's accomplice, Naeem, an Indian, has already left the country.
"This is a new life. I never thought I would see my family again when I used to wake up at midnight, dreaming of my own death by hanging every day for ten years," an emotionally choked Farooq told Gulf News over the phone.
"I was 33 when I went to jail. Now I have become an old man, and my little daughters have turned 13 and 14. They were just three and four when I went to jail, and now they can hardly recognise me," he said.
Farooq, who was working as a driver for a family in Abu Dhabi, was convicted, along with Naeem, of stabbing his roommate, an Indian, to death over a fight involving watching a movie on Naeem's VCR.
Farooq and Naeem had been sentenced to die and had been serving their jail terms in Al Ain Central Jail since 1998, even as negotiations were going on to convince the victim's family to accept blood money, and grant a pardon to both the convicts.
Yasantha Wijeyesekera, Labour Attache at the Sri Lankan embassy, said they had made representations from all possible sections in order to convince the family of the deceased.
"It was only in April 2007 that our prayers were answered, and we managed to obtain a letter of pardon from the victim's family. The death sentence was put on hold until February 5, this year, as the court set the deadline for us to raise the promised amount of Dh300,000," said Wijeyesekera.
According to him, the money was paid off by a UAE national.
Regretful
Still in the throes of a happy homecoming Farooq is regretful of the past and says, "I want to lead a decent life, and not hurt anyone. I have learned the lesson that if you do good, you will live good; the evil that you do will come back to you only."
He added that he is only happy that he spent his prison term learning Arabic and reading the Quran.
"I learned the language so well, and started teaching other inmates. That is the only good thing I could do, and I am happy about it," he said.
Farooq is now struggling to start his life afresh, by finding a job to support his family. "They have seen the worst times when I was away. Now it is my onus to see that my children are properly educated and my family is well looked after. That is how I have to pay back the mercy everyone have shown me," he said.
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