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Family Wealth, Job No Reason to Deny Compensation to Widow

The apex court on Monday ordered an insurance company and a motorist to pay Dh 325,000 as compensation to the family of an Arab employee who was killed in a run-over accident in Abu Dhabi recently.

As a custodian of two minors, the wife of the victim filed a lawsuit at Abu Dhabi Federal Court of First Instance demanding the insurance company and the motorist to disburse Dh 2 million in financial and spiritual damage she passed through for losing her husband, the breadwinner of the household.

She said that another court (Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal) has convicted the driver and ordered him to pay the blood money but she filed this civilian case to obtain compensation.

The company and driver challenged the primary sentence at the Abu Dhabi Court of Appeal which turned down their petition but they moved the Federal Supreme Court.

Their lawyer argued that the deceased is not the only supporter as his wife is also working and she enjoys a good financial position, not making it necessary for her to depend on her husband to run their family.

He added that the victim crossed the road out of the zebra line, making him partly responsible for the accident.

The apex court maintained that the wealth and that fact that the wife is employed cannot be the grounds for denying her the compensation for the loss of her husband.

The court stated that maintenance 
is the duty of the husband as per Islamic Shariah.

Crossing the road from places not designed for that purpose doesn’t relieve the motorist from responsibility, the court affirmed.

The speeding motorist was convicted for negligence and obliged to pay the blood money. Accordingly, the court rejected the appeal and upheld the primary sentence.

adel@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE