A Pakistani man has pardoned 10 Indians convicted of murdering his son in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), in 2015, BBC Urdu reported.
According to Sharia law in the United Arab Emirates, if murder charges against the accused are proved, they have to be sentenced to death.
However, if the families of the accused and the petitioner reach an agreement and the petitioner forgives the accused, the case is considered settled.
An Abu Dhabi court had given the victim's father, Muhammad Riaz, the leeway to decide if he wanted to forgive the accused in exchange for blood money.
Riaz decided to pardon the accused, but it is up to the court to reconsider if the death penalty should be implemented.
Riaz travelled from Peshawar with his family and friends to forgive the accused and arrange the pardon. He has submitted an application to the court, which will decide on the matter by April 12, 2017.
"Losing my child was my bad fortune; but If I didn't forgive these young men, what would have happened?" Riaz told BBC Urdu. "I appeal to the youth to stay out of fights, keep to their business and work to make their countries and parents proud."
"I may have forgiven these 10, but it was God who really saved them," Riaz added.
The convicts hail from Indian Punjab and had come to the UAE to seek better work opportunities.
The arrangements for the blood money settlement were made by SP Singh Oberoi, a Dubai-based businessman of Indian origin. He heads an NGO which deals with prisoners' issues.
"We called Muhammad Riaz from Pakistan three days ago and somehow managed to convince him," Oberoi said. "According to the Shariah court's law, we have deposited 200,000 Emirati dirhams as blood money."
Oberoi has in the past saved 88 individuals, including five Pakistani youth, from the death penalty.