An Indian expatriate in Dubai walked a total of more than 1,000 km over two years to attend court proceedings in a bid to return home, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Jagannathan Selvaraj, 48, who hails from Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, told the Khaleej Times that he braved traffic, heat, sandstorm and exhaustion to attend the labour court proceedings.

Selvaraj began his court journeys after his mother died in Tamil Nadu and he was denied permission to go and attend her funeral.

His case went on for almost two years. Selvaraj said he must have walked at least 20 times to Karama district in Dubai from Sonapur and back, every time covering a distance of over 50 km in four hours.

"My case number was 826 and I had to walk 2 hours in the morning to reach the court in Dubai. I used to get up early morning at 4am on the days the court was to hear my case. Every 15 days, I had to walk all the way to the court because I did not have the money to pay for bus or taxi," he told Khaleej Times.

He said he could not afford a bus journey from his Sonapur accommodation on the outskirts of Dubai to the labour court. He added that it was most tough during summer, but he had to endure it all.

Selvaraj told the Khaleej Times that he had been living in a public park for several months and was desperate to return to India.

He needs a ticket to go home and is hoping that some help would come his way.