22 year old Keralite awaits death in Kuwait jail

A 22-year-old Muslim, hailing from Elathur near Vengali village of Calicut district of Kerala, is awaiting a death sentence in the Sulaibiya jail at Jehra in Kuwait following the collapse of a tragic love affair with a Nepali girl.

While the girl died in a suicide pact reached between the two, the boy survived, only to be charged with murder.

Shoukath, the son of Koyadeen of Pulparappil house, the eldest child in a poor fisherman family of six, has been in the jail since December, 2005.

The Jehra court awarded Shoukath capital punishment recently. His relatives came to know about his fate through a report that appeared in a vernacular daily.

Stunned by the court verdict, Shoukath's family has now approached Union Minister of State for External Affairs, E Ahamed, and asked him to intervene in the matter. They called upon the Minister last week when he came to Kozhikode, and has prepared a memorandum to be sent to the ministry.

"He could never do this kind of an act, he and his brother is always been known for his good character in the whole village, he is not that kind of a guy and we are very sure that he cannot do any wrong to anyone," said Koyadeen Pulparappil, Shoukath's father.

"A few days back he had telephoned our relatives and said tht he is going though some kind of tension, but he never said what he was worried about," said Sodaha, his mother.

"The Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre in Kuwait has also offered support. But they cannot do anything without the backing of India government," says Noushad, Shoukath's younger brother, who performs odd jobs to make a living.

Shoukath had gone to Kuwait on January 8, 2005 on a visiting visa. After working in many shops he got a job in a Malayali-run restaurant. He fell in love with a Nepali girl Yamuna, who was working as a maid in a house nearby. The duo decided to commit suicide after the families opposed the marriage, on December 13, 2005.

"Both of them hanged themselves and my brother failed in the attempt as the fan came down with him. People hearing the commotion rushed in and prevented him from making further attempts," says Noushad. But the girl died and Shoukath was arrested by the Kuwait police.

There are, however, reports that Shoukath had told police that he had strangled Yamuna to death as per an agreement between them.

His suicide was the second part of the scheme, which got failed, he had said. Among his family which awaits a miracle that can save him include mother Souda, younger brothers Noushad and Siddique and two sisters Faheema and Shameeda.