Murdered woman's compatriot, locked in bathroom, could hear her cries for help but couldn't do anything
The victim was knifed. The above is not the murder weapon (File)
The Dubai Criminal Court awarded the death penalty to two Afghanis accused of premeditated murder of an Uzbek woman associated with theft and prostitution.
Prosecutors accused the two jobless Afghanis identified as ANM, 40 and IHZ, 30, of stabbing MH 23 times with the intention of premeditatedly killing her, a crime associated with the stealing of Dh600, two mobile phones, a DVD player and perfumes.
In an earlier hearing, both accused denied the accusation and claimed that their intention was only to steal from the victim.
"I went there and only had an intention to steal from her… we had a fight and I unintentionally killed her. The killing wasn't premeditated," argued ANM defending himself.
IHZ also pleaded not guilty.
The two also denied the charge of unlawfully locking up a 42-year-old Uzbek woman, NA in the washroom of the victim's flat and running away following the alleged incident.
NA is accused by the prosecution of working as a prostitute and was awarded 6 month jail followed by deportation.
NA told prosecutors that she moved into the victim’s flat three days prior to the incident "I heard MH quarrelling with ANM over the phone… then the Afghans came to the flat and brought fruits to spend time with us. MH told me she had been dating ANM and they broke up several times because of jealousy. That night, she told me, he came to reconcile with her.
"MH took money from ANM and gave me Dh300 … they went behind a curtain in the room while I slept on my bed. I woke up suddenly hearing MH's cries for help… IHZ had a knife in his hand and he threatened me. He immobilised me and prevented me from looking at what was happening. When I tried to break loose, he locked himself and me in the washroom. ANM then came to the washroom and they threatened me with knives and repeatedly asked me about where MH hid her money," NA testified.
An Emirati police captain, who questioned NA, claimed that she told him that the Afghans locked her inside the washroom and ran away.
"She claimed that she broke the bathroom door from inside following a three-hour attempt. As she discovered that her compatriot had been killed she escaped from the window. We arrested the Afghans in Sharjah after we identified them from the surveillance cameras of the shop from where they bought the knives for Dh26," testified the officer.
During the hearings of the case, NA was offered bail by the Court but as she did not have any place to stay she preferred to stay in custody.
The sentence can be appealed within 15 days.
No comments:
Post a Comment