The 16 years Sulaiman Kutty lived in the Kingdom, he spent in a prison.

After years of attempting to gain his freedom following a drug trafficking conviction, he lost all hope to see his native Kerala state in India. He slipped into mental illness and prepared himself to die in prison.

But Saudi authorities, recognizing his condition, awarded him a compassionate release from the Dammam prison.

Yet, just moments from complete freedom as he prepared to board a flight late last night for India, it all fell apart. Kutty was returned to his prison cell, his future uncertain.

According to Sulaiman Kuttys brother, Mohammed, Sulaiman became violent in the queue when Mohammed greeted him at the airport. Sulaiman attacked his brother and became violent with passengers in the queue waiting to board the flight.

Airport and airline officials, fearing that he could become violent while in flight and become a danger to his fellow passengers, demanded that Sulaiman be returned to the Dammam prison.

Kutty came to Saudi Arabia in 1997 for work, just like thousands of his fellow countrymen. Before he left his country someone had asked him to hand over a small package, containing important medicine. He was to hand this over to a sick person in Saudi Arabia. In those days it was a routine custom in India to bring packages for fellow Indians, Kutty believed.

This kind gesture made for a disastrous turning point in his life. On arrival in the Kingdom, it was found the parcel contained deadly narcotics. Kutty, then 19 years old, was detained by Saudi customs authorities for carrying drugs and later convicted and sentenced to prison for a 15-year term and a fine of SR 100,000.

A shocked Kutty, now 36, heard about the death penalty for drug traffickers. He was certain his days were numbered and became a psychiatric patient two years later in 1999.

Other inmates who spent a long time in prison are in good health. Some were able to memorize the Holy Quran, earning remission of their sentences. However, two other Indian convicts in a drug trafficking case Shaikh Mastan and Hamza received the death penalty and were executed.

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Freedom comes to Indian convict too late