2 Indians to pay blood money for causing guard's death in Dubai

Dubai, Dec 27 (IANS) The Dubai Court of Appeals has upheld sentences of two Indians for causing the death of a security guard, who was crushed between a crane and a lorry at a construction site last year.

A 35 year-old safety supervisor and a project manager, 28, from India were charged with wrongfully causing the guard's death, which took place on August 28 last year at the site of an under-construction villa in Jumeirah, The National reported.

Awarding them a suspended sentence of a month, the Dubai Misdemeanour Court fined them Dh3,000 each and ordered them to jointly pay Dh200,000 in blood money to the victim's family.

Prosecutors seeking a tougher punishment took the case to the Court of Appeal, which upheld the sentence, the paper reported.

According to Dubai Municipality inspectors' report, the Indians allowed the security guard to operate the crane knowing well that he was not qualified to do the job, thereby resulting in a failure of safety procedures.

The security guard drove the crane to help move a lorry, which was carrying a medium-sized electric generator, the court was told.

When he jumped between the crane and the lorry to tighten the ropes around the generator, the crane moved and crushed the guard as the brakes were not functioning properly, the court was told.

"Instead of moving away, the deceased tried to stop the crane by pushing it away from him, but he failed and was stuck between the two vehicles," the lorry driver told the court.

According to a medical report, the man died of injuries to his chest and abdomen.

The two men were charged with wrongfully causing the guard's death, which they had vehemently denied.