Joseph, an Indian woman has won a five-year-long battle against her travel ban

Melvin Mendonca/ DTNN
melvin@dt.bh
Manama

After serving the Ministry of Social Development as a nursing supervisor for a long period, she wanted to lead a peaceful retired life. But a shock was awaiting her when her passport was sent for visa cancellation as the authorities told her that there was a travel ban against her.

Meet 66-year-old Indian national Rathinam Flora Earnestine Jayaseeli, known by the name Joseph among her colleagues, who hasn’t given up her fight even after her lawyers conceded defeat.

It all began when she borrowed some cash from a person called Biju (name changed) in 2004. In 2006, she handed him over a blank cheque and paper signed by her as a security for the loan she borrowed from Biju. Afterwards, she cleared all her dues and she maintained proper evidences for the payment. But Biju had not returned the blank cheque and the paper signed by her, even after paying all his dues.

In 2010, her passport was sent to the authorities for visa cancellation as she had retired from the job. At that time, she came to know that a travel ban had been imposed on her citing the reason that she ‘owed’ BD5,000 to a woman called Regina (name changed). Interestingly, Joseph allegedly had never met Regina before that time.

When the case came before the First Instance Court, Regina, a beautician by profession, according to Labour Market Regulatory Authority sources, submitted the same blank cheque and paper Joseph had given to Biju in 2006. The difference was, both cheque as well as paper were filled with contents. And obviously, it was signed by Joseph.

The court, verifying the evidences, ruled in favour of Regina and asked Joseph to pay BD5,000 along with interest, plus court and lawyer’s fees. Joseph approached the Appeals Court since she was not ready to concede to defeat. But the Appeals Court upheld the verdict pronounced by the First Instance Court and another door of justice was closed before her. The Appeals Court also issued an arrest warrant against her in December 26, 2012.

It was the time when her pastor Dhanrajan Pandyan introduced her a new lawyer called Ziyad Kioumji, who took up her case. But it was too late when she approached the new lawyer, as the time limit of 45 days for appealing the higher court was already over. Two courts had already ruled against her. Moreover, the time limit for appealing the higher court had also expired.

But Ziyad Kioumji wanted to bring a conclusive end to the story. He had filed a criminal case against Biju and Regina, stating that both were involved in forging the cheque and paper. He had also been successful in convincing the Prosecution. The Prosecutor admitted that a detailed investigation was needed to find out the truth. Both, the cheque and the paper were sent to forensic lab for verification.

The forensic report, that came after about one-and-a-half years of study, stated that the signatures on the cheque and the paper had been signed by Joseph herself. However, the wordings are not matching with the time she signed on the cheque and paper. Moreover, the content has been written in Arabic, which Joseph cannot read. In the meantime, the lawyer proved that, whatever the money taken from Biju, had been repaid by Joseph.

The forensic report completely turned the table, favouring Joseph and she finally won the five-yearlong battle. The court ordered for the arrest of Biju. But Regina escaped from the clutches of the court since she had already left the country.

Joseph is free to leave the country since she has won the battle. But the mental agony suffered by her cannot be valued with money, says her lawyer Ziyad Kioumji. She was literarily in the jail, as she could not go out of Bahrain. On top of that, she lost a huge amount of money she received from her employer during her retirement. Due to the mental agony, she recently suffered a cardiac arrest also. But she won against the death too. “If God is for us, who can be against us,” she signed off, quoting a bible verse.

Be vigilant, avoid trouble 

Sometimes, our own mistakes will put us in deep trouble. To avoid such troubles, one should take enough care while dealing with documents, said Ziyad Kioumji, Barrister at Court of Cassation. He has given the following tips to avoid troubles related to documents:

* Never ever sign any blank documents.

* Never ever sign any documents without reading and without understanding them.

* Never leave any blank space in the document. The blank space could be misused.

* Always mention the date next to your signature.

* Never ever sign a document in a language, which you don’t know. Translate it before signing.

* In case you borrow money or any other valuable items, always keep a photocopy of documents, which are signed by you.

* Always maintain proof while transferring money. It may cost you little for transferring money via bank. But it will come to your rescue during difficulties.