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Sharjah expat murder mystery solved: Police

SHARJAH — Sharjah Police claim to have solved the mystery shrouding the suspected murder of a 53-year-old Sharjah-based Indian expatriate whose body was found last Thursday lying “in a pool of blood with a deep gash on his throat”.

A Sri Lankan maid and her suspected boyfriend have been arrested for their alleged role in the murder.

Brigadier Salih Al Mutwa, director-general of Sharjah Police, said the maid’s ‘boyfriend’, I.P (30), from Sri Lanka, was arrested at Dubai Airport yesterday while trying to flee the country. His ‘girlfriend’ and ‘partner-in-crime’, G.S (25), who had been working as a maid with the victim for 20 years, has also been held, he said.

The body of the victim, Devarajan, was discovered by his son Binu in the former’s 10^th floor Musalla Tower apartment near Al Mussala Park in Rolla in Sharjah.

Brig. Al Mutwa said that during his interrogation, the accused, I.P, had confessed to his crime. He had confessed to killing the victim by slitting his throat with a sharp knife, Brig. Al Mutwa added.

The accused has cited the alleged sexual harassment of the maid by Devarajan as the motive behind the murder, Brig. Al Mutwa said. He has also confessed that the maid too participated in the crime, the top police official added.

In her statement, the maid has reportedly told the police that Devarajan had tried, several times, to sexually harass her, and when she told her “boyfriend” about, he decided to kill him.

The maid has reportedly told the police that Devarajan had asked her to come to the house on the fateful night. She told her “boyfriend” about it who reportedly accompanied her to the flat and hid in the kitchen. When the victim allegedly tried to molest her, he came out of the kitchen and hit Devarajan on his head with a heavy tool and then slit his throat with a knife, the maid has confessed.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Brig. Al Mutawa said the police had earlier interrogated the watchman of the building who had reported seeing the maid leaving the building in the wee hours.

The police also came to learn from a friend of the victim, who too had hired the same maid to work part-time, that the accused had reportedly been living with the maid in a house in Al Gubaiab area. The police had immediately alerted all airports in the emirates about the two.

Meanwhile, Brig. Al Mutawa has urged the media not to publish inaccurate information in reporting such incidents.

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