The Ras Al Khaimah Civil Court has ordered a motorist to pay Dh200,000 blood money to the family of a girl who was killed in a car accident.
The Emirati man was found guilty of causing the accident on the evening of March 22 last year, in the Shaam area of the emirate.
He was driving on an unlit road when he hit a pregnant woman, 20, and her sister and cousin, both 13, who were walking on the roadside.
The Emirati woman was 20 weeks pregnant and lost her unborn child.
Her sister sustained moderate injuries, but the cousin was badly hurt and died in hospital on April 12.
The emirate's criminal court found the man guilty of failing to adhere to traffic rules and causing a wrongful death. He was sentenced to one month in prison, fined Dh10,000 and had his licence suspended for a year.
But the parents of the girl who died also filed a case with Ras Al Khaimah Civil Court requesting Dh200,000 in compensation from the motorist and his insurance company.
The civil court ordered the man to pay Dh200,000 in blood money to the family of the deceased and another Dh20,000 in blood money to the pregnant woman for the loss of her unborn child.
During court hearings, the lawyer representing the insurance company said the victims should share responsibility for causing the accident because they walked in a dark street while dressed in black.
But the court dismissed the argument and last week the judge ordered the driver and his insurer to jointly pay the compensation.
Racecard
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
