Man jailed for assault leading to death of a woman

A jobless man was sentenced to four years in prison on Monday by the Court of First Instance on the charge of assault leading to death of a Kenyan woman.

By Marie Nammour

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Published: Tue 10 Jul 2012, 9:24 AM

Last updated: Tue 7 Apr 2015, 11:37 AM

Presiding Judge Hamad Abdel Latif Abdel Jawad gave the 23-year-old Emirati defendant, three-year imprisonment for the assault charge and one year for molestation charge. The verdict remains subject to appeal within 15 days at the Court of Appeal.

It is believed the defendant punched the victim on her face which caused her to collapse and her head hitting the ground. He kept kicking on her face while she was lying down injured.

The defendant’s confrontation with the victim happened after he allegedly molested her friend outside a hotel on Shaikh Zayed Road. It was after 3am one night in February.

A defence lawyer argued in court earlier that his client only reacted and responded to the victim who initiated the attack on him. The lawyer said that the victim began the fight by hitting his client on his head.

He added that the defendant could provide the court with a medical report stating that he was chronically ill.

In his arguments in court, the lawyer said that the woman, who was allegedly molested by the defendant, gave contradictory statements during the investigation.

The victim’s Kenyan friend, 28, told the prosecutor that the incident happened in the parking lot outside the hotel. S

he, the victim and another woman had just walked out of a party at a night club and were walking towards the parking lot. The defendant came to them and fondled and groped her, the witness.

She was provoked by his act and asked him about the reason for it but he pushed her defiantly. She then walked away towards her car, talking on her mobile phone.

When looked back, she saw her friend, the victim, lying down while the defendant was kicking her head without mercy. She screamed for the help of passers-by and some of them kept the accused away from her.

By the time the police arrived, the accused had fled the scene with his friends. She wrote down his car’s registration number. The victim was rushed to the Rashid Hospital unconscious and in a critical condition.

The other woman, who was with the victim that night, a Kenyan visitor, 29, confirmed that the victim was assaulted by the defendant.

The victim screamed at the accused after he molested her friend so he punched her face and knocked her down. He then kicked her head many times. She saw the victim bleeding from her nose, ears and mouth.

According to the forensic medicine report, the death was caused by a severe head injury and skull fracture. The victim’s head hit a solid ground and that led to a brain bleeding and severe swelling. The victim plunged in a coma after the assault and died the day following the assault at the hospital.

mary@khaleejtimes.com


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