Kozhikode: After spending 20 years in a Saudi Arabian prison, Abdul Rahim finally returned home to Kerala on Thursday morning, bringing an emotional end to a long and painful chapter that had united the global Malayali community in prayer and support.
The most heart-wrenching moment came when Rahim embraced his aged mother, Fathima, whose only wish for the past two decades had been to see her son return home safely.
“I’m thankful to each and every one who made this possible,” Rahim said with tears rolling down his cheeks after landing at Karipur International Airport around 7.30 a.m. on an Air India Express flight from Riyadh.
Relatives, friends and well-wishers gathered outside the airport to welcome the 46-year-old, whose tragic story had deeply moved Malayalis across the world.
As he stepped onto Kerala soil after years behind prison walls, Rahim folded his hands in gratitude and broke down while thanking those who stood by him emotionally, financially and spiritually throughout the long legal battle.
Scenes at the airport turned emotional as he reunited with family members and close friends.
Back at his ancestral home in Kodampuzha near Farook in Kozhikode district, crowds gathered to welcome the man many feared would never return alive.
But the person who waited the longest was his mother. For 20 years, Fathima lived with the hope of seeing her son again before the end of her life. The emotional reunion between mother and son moved many in the crowd to tears.
A year ago, she had travelled to Saudi Arabia and was allowed to meet Rahim inside the prison for just 45 minutes.
Rahim’s ordeal began in November 2006, when the then 26-year-old travelled to Saudi Arabia on a house driver visa in search of a better life to support his financially struggling family.
Within weeks of reaching Riyadh, tragedy struck.
Rahim had been assigned to care for Anas Al Fayis, the differently abled son of a Saudi family. During a car journey, the tube connected to the boy’s life-support system reportedly became disconnected after Rahim’s hand accidentally touched it.
The 15-year-old suffocated to death within moments.
Though Rahim consistently maintained that the incident was accidental and not intentional, he was arrested in December 2006. In 2012, a Saudi court sentenced him to death.
What followed was one of the largest humanitarian campaigns ever witnessed among the global Malayali community.
After years of legal efforts, the victim’s family finally agreed to pardon Rahim in exchange for blood money. An extraordinary Rs 34 crore was raised by Malayalis around the world through the Abdul Rahim Legal Assistance Committee.
The massive collective effort transformed what once appeared to be an impossible fight for survival into a powerful story of compassion, unity and hope.
Rahim’s death sentence was officially cancelled in July 2024. However, under Saudi public rights law, he still had to complete a 20-year prison term before being released.
That wait finally ended this week.
Abdul Rahim walked out of prison as a middle-aged man carrying the burden of two lost decades. But his return home on Thursday brought relief, gratitude and joy — especially for a mother who finally got her son back.
With IANS inputs