Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — A family’s jubilation was summed up by the sweet sound of a three-year-old child shouting three Tamil words in elation that brought about a joyous reunion.

“Amma... Appa Vanthuttanga”, which in English simply translates to “Mother... Dad’s Come”, resonated in a small hut of a remote Tamil Nadu village recently when Murugan Vadivel’s daughter called out these choice words on seeing her father return home.

Murugan, incarcerated in Buraidah for two years and four months, returned home to his village Melamanjeri, Thirukavayur, in Tanjore District in Tamil Nadu, India, after winning pardon through the efforts of well-wishers under the direction of Sentamil Nalamandram (SNM), an active social organization working to assist Indian Tamils, mostly underprivileged, in KSA in their times of their needs.

Murugan’s story could well have been in the realms of a movie storyline, woven over time on accidental incidents that eventually meandered toward a happy ending, which was savored by all the people who came forward to pitch in to help the 33-year-old reunite with his family.

Murugan’s arrival to Saudi Arabia and his recent departure back home was punctuated with its moments of travails that had its share of happiness and sadness. As is the case of every expatriate, Murugan dreamed of making a fist of a Gulf job offer that was sure to change his life.

What Murugan did not expect that it would change it so much that in the end he would be left to the mercy of a family and the philanthropic actions and good wishes of the SNM group, who touched Tamilians not only in the Gulf but also from other part of the world, to help Murugan from his plight.

Murugan arrived in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia, in 2014 after accepting a job as a driver of a trailer. But as luck would have it, within 6 months in his job he was involved in an accident with a taxi and unfortunately the Indian taxi driver Muhammed Subhan from Uttar Pradesh, died in the crash.

Murugan neither had driver’s insurance nor his sponsor had 3rd party insurance. New to the country he followed the lead of his sponsor, who managed to bail him out after the police had taken Murugan to jail from the crash site.

Murugan worked in the job for the next one and half years, enjoying his work in the belief that the cloud of the accident had passed him with his sponsor springing his bail. After completing his first 2-year period, he applied for his annual leave in 2016, as per his contract.

Then Murugan’s struggles began. The sponsor okayed his leave and asked Murugan to pack. Murugan gleefully informed his family of his prospective arrival for holiday and waited for his sponsor to take him to airport. The sponsor came, picked him up but instead of taking him to the airport, dropped him at the police station, when he was jailed.

Murugan, at first, was at sea at what had happened. And it took him time to realize his predicament. He was not even aware which national had died in the crash, and he did not know he had been fined with blood money of SR300K.

He faced life in jail till he could collect the money and pay for his freedom or get a pardon by Mohammed Subhan’s parents. Amid this mishap, his wife and daughter did not know of the situation immediately, till news of his problem was relayed to them.

Then began the pillar to post run to find a solution or people to help him. His family went around all the offices in India, wrote petitions, approached almost all social organization in India and KSA, and finally their cry for help reached Sentamil Nalamandram.

SNM too felt the task was daunting, but members felt that all efforts should just be started, even collection of money, which started as a trickle but became a tidal wave, and just stay the course. SNM also sought out the details of the case, including availing judgment copy and power of attorney holder in the case.

They then had several discussions with the power of attorney holders and parents, with separate teams visiting Buraidah and even India, and finally managed to free him on Oct. 28, 2018. Yet he was unable to travel quickly because his Iqama had expired

But this time his sponsor extended support to avail his exit and made his return possible on Nov. 26. He reached his hometown on Nov. 27 and was joyous on hearing his daughter announcing his return.

SNM would like to convey its sincere thanks to all those who directly and indirectly assisted on Murugan’s case. The SNM team stressed that it could be achieved only with the staunch help of its well wishers, while underlining SNM’s motto that it always strives to help those in need; works together with a purpose, and never rests until the goal is achieved.