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DIPLOMATS and community members have joined hands to help a blind man who is unable to leave the country over an amount of BD2,000 owed to a Bahraini.
Indian Hari Krishnan lost his vision due to glaucoma four years ago and has been without a job or shelter since then – surviving at the mercy of fellow humans.
The 55-year-old fire and safety professional, who has been living in the Sikh Gurdwara in Budaiya since early last year, has appealed for mercy from the authorities.
He has not visited his family – wife and son – since 2014 and is seeking help to return home.
After Mr Krishnan became blind in 2018, judicial rulings on him for overstay and other claims resulted in nine legal cases filed by telecom and car rental companies, and business associates.
With the help of the Indian Embassy, expat association Pravasi Legal Cell (PLC) managed to close all of them last year; however, a 10th case involving BD1,999 cropped up when the man applied for an immigration clearance for travel.
“I am grateful to all who have supported me over the last four years, especially the Gurudwara, which has housed me for more than a year now,” Mr Krishnan told the GDN.
“They are very compassionate and treat me well, but it is difficult to be at the mercy of others.
“It was fate that I went blind and all I want now is to get back home and spend my days with my wife and son.”
Mr Krishnan arrived in Bahrain in 2007 to work as a fire and safety supervisor for a private company that was closed down after two years. He then went on to work for a number of other firms.
Meanwhile, he was receiving glaucoma preventive treatment and his doctor had recommended that he return home for surgery in 2017.
“I had planned to go, but had debts and cases and the trip had to be postponed,” he said.
“Soon, I went completely blind, and the damage is irreversible – I can’t work, earn or repay my debts, and I’m grateful to everyone who understood my plight and dropped charges against me.”
Mr Krishnan has accumulated debts of around INR700,000 (around BD3,600) back home and he has had to borrow money from family members to survive over the last four years.
“During the peak of Covid-19, many people who were supporting me and with whom I was living lost their jobs, and I had to ask for money from friends back home,” he explained. His wife has taken up a small job of late to support the family.
PLC country head and Middle East Humanitarian Aid director Sudhir Thirunilath, who has been following up the case, said repeated attempts to persuade the Bahraini man to drop the charges have ended in vain.
He added that the PLC had made requests to all parties involved, including the Justice, Islamic Affairs, and Endowments Ministry.
“All nine cases filed by various parties were dismissed on humanitarian grounds,” Mr Thirunilath said.
Mr Thirunilath
“The embassy issued outpass and when we went to the immigration department, we learned that he has to pay BD3,243 for non-completion of jobs.
“With supporting documents, we were able to reduce it to BD1,999, but this amount remains a stumbling block to his travel.
“We contacted the Bahraini who filed the case to highlight Mr Krishnan’s plight as he cannot do anything without assistance.
“We tried hard to persuade him, but he (Bahraini) would not yield.”
Mr Krishnan had done tiling work at the Bahraini’s house, which the former claims was completed in 2018.
“But he had requested for additional jobs to be added to the agreement, for which I asked for more money and then on he was upset with me, and he stopped paying me or contacting me,” Mr Krishnan claimed. “I never knew he had filed a case against me.”
Mr Krishnan hails from Kozhikode, Kerala and has a 16-year-old son.
raji@gdn.com.bh
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