Abu Dhabi man gets 10 years jail for killing own child

A father who killed his one-year-old child by hitting him on the floor following a family dispute has been given 10 years in jail.

Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance handed down the jail sentence to the Djibouti national after he was found guilty of assaulting the child, which led to his death.

The court also ordered the father to pay blood money (diya) to the child's mother and his siblings.

The Djiboutian mother of the dead child earlier told court that she was in their bedroom in an apartment in Abu Dhabi, and changing the baby's diaper when her husband entered and sat on their bed.

The man allegedly asked the woman to hand him the child but she refused as she was still changing his diaper.

"My husband suddenly grabbed the child from me and held him tightly before holding him up on his shoulder," the woman said in court.

She added that she insisted on the husband giving her back the baby, but the man refused.

The woman said her husband then bent the child a little and hit his head on the ground.

"I was so shocked to see my husband deliberately hitting my child on the ground and stepping on him," the Djibouti national told court.

She told the judge that she tried to scream and call for help after she saw her baby was in bad condition with his head bleeding and swollen. But the man ordered her to keep quiet.

"The baby's nanny, who is also my relative, tried to open the door after hearing me screaming, but the man shut the door by force and refused her to enter," she added.

It was the nanny who went and informed their neighbours about the quarrel.

And when they came for help, the man allegedly refused to let them into his house stressing that no one should intervene in their family matters.

A neighbour threatened to call the police and then the husband accepted to take the baby to the hospital where he later died of wounds.

The woman said to the court that the couple had family disputes and would often argue in the house. She noted that this might have forced the husband to revenge on her by attacking her child.

Prosecutors had charged the husband with premeditated murder of his son but was later changed to assaulting that led to death.

The father denied the charge throughout his trial.

He would be deported after serving the jail sentence.

ismail@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi