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Muscat Daily
11 September 2013

An Indian maid being treated at the Khoula Hospital after being knocked down by a speeding car in May, is waiting for an undertaking from a hospital in India so that she can be airlifted home and continue treatment. The victim, Shahnaz Begum, was hit near The Sultan Center in Qurm on May 26 this year on way back home from work. She was taken to the Khoula Hospital, a family member said.

She has been left totally disabled and is also unable to speak. Doctors at the hospital have said that her condition has improved, but she still needs round-the-clock medical attention.

With details from her passport, the Indian Embassy got in touch with her family in her home state of Tamil Nadu asking it to arrange for a letter of undertaking from a hospital for further treatment. The letter is required to airlift Shahnaz, an official from the embassy's social welfare department said. The letter ensures that there would be an ambulance waiting at the airport to take her to the hospital for further treatment. This letter should be addressed to either the Indian Embassy here or the Khoula Hospital.

An accident case will be filed soon. As the victim has sustained 100 per cent disability, three legal possibilities exist. If her condition improves and she starts talking, a case can be filed in the presence of a public notary. If it doesn't, the case will have to be filed considering her a permanent minor due to total disability, with a guardian of original petitioner (OP) letter from an Indian court. Another option is to get an attested guardianship letter from a court in India. The process to file a case is on, advocate M K Prasad, a legal consultant to the Indian Embassy, said.