Thirty-year-old Rasheed Shafi is relieved to be with his parents at his house in Belthangady, 60 km from Mangaluru, after spending an agonising year in Uganda facing a theft charge.
“For no fault of mine, I had to face a criminal case. It was really a tough period. With god’s grace, I got help from my friends and well-wishers and managed to absolve myself of the allegation and come back home,” Mr. Shafi told The Hindu over phone from this house. He returned home on Wednesday after being let go by a local court in Uganda on April 24.
“I just want to relax for the next few days and then take up work here,” he said. He is certain he does not want to return to Uganda.
Mr. Shafi, the eldest of the seven children of Mohammed Shafi, went to work in Uganda eight years ago. In April last year, he was allegedly attacked by some masked men while riding a bike home. The attackers assaulted him and robbed him of money equivalent to ₹10 lakh that belonged to a firm he worked for. After deducting this money from his salary, the firm filed a complaint against him in October last, which led to his detention till December 5.
WhatsApp group
When it became difficult for Mr. Shafi, his wife Mihim Ibrahim Dahir and three children to live in Uganda and manage the problem, he sought help from Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat member Shahul Hameed, Rasheed Vitla and other members of the WhatsApp group ‘M-Friends’.
After arranging a flight for Ms. Dahir and the children to come back to Mangaluru on March 21, the M-Friends members used their network to help Mr. Shafi in the process of reconciliation initiated by the Uganda court. On April 20, the firm agreed to accept an amount equivalent to ₹5 lakh from him.
The M-Friends group members collected this amount and paid it to the firm. The reconciliation deed was produced in court on April 24 and Mr. Shafi was discharged. The M-Friends group members then arranged for Mr. Shafi’s return to Mangaluru.
