Maid raped, hanged by 'unknown trespasser: Lawyer tells RAK court

The lawyer added that the testimony of the CID officer who gave his statement in court was not professional or legal because he was not at the scene of the crime.

Ras Al Khaimah – The defence lawyer of an Emirati employer charged with raping and hanging a domestic helper told the RAK Criminal Court on Thursday that the victim was attacked and abused by an unknown trespasser.

The unidentified suspect, at large, had allegedly trespassed the house of the accused while the family was asleep, attacked the defendant’s maid and raped her before hanging her,” Dr Fahd Al Sabhan, the defence lawyer told the court.

As per court records, the incident happened in February 2012 when a CID officer of the RAK Police were alerted about the maid who was murdered at her employer's house.

Dr Sabhan told the court that the CID teams could not identify the attacker from the seminal fluid found on the corpse of the deceased. The same was not identified during interrogation by the RAK Public Prosecution.

“The CID investigations and public prosecution’s interrogations lack any conclusive evidence against my client,” he said, urging the court to set his client free.

There is no re-enactment sketch of the murder as well, he said, noting that the public prosecution had already closed the case three years back for lack of evidence.

The lawyer added that the testimony of the CID officer who gave his statement in court was not professional or legal because he was not at the scene of the crime.

“He did not even enter the house where the maid was murdered to examine the site while his statement was based on some tips he heard, and hence his testimony is doubtful and cannot be conclusive.”

Dr Sabhan said the CID officers proposed two possibilities for the crime, but they adopted the first which lacked definite evidence. “The first possibility was that the maid had been raped by an unidentified person, following which the defendant and his wife hit her with a sharp tool in the head until she lost consciousness.

“Assuming that the maid passed away, the man and his wife hanged her corpse to a ceiling fan in her room so that she appeared to have committed suicide.”

The second possibility, the defence lawyer said, was that the maid committed suicide after being raped by an unidentified person. “However, the public prosecution adopted the first possibility which lacks enough evidence.”  

ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com