UAE labourer kills sex worker over money; life term upheld

Dubai - The 29-year-old Bangladeshi worker was given life term in July for the murder.

A labourer who strangled a prostitute to death with her own scarf after arguing with her over money was convicted again of a premeditated murder charge and sentenced to life in prison and deportation by the Court of Appeals.

The 29-year-old Bangladeshi worker was given life term in July for the murder. He is believed to have met the victim on the day of the incident in a remote area in Jebel Ali, where they first had sex followed by a verbal brawl over money. He took advantage that they were in a remote place and strangled her to death. He fled the scene after taking her mobile phone.
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The Court of First Instance convicted him in July of premeditated murder and theft charges and ordered him be deported after completing the life term. The appellate court upheld the conviction.

The accused fled the country after the murder in April 2013. However, he was caught in September 2015 and placed in detention.

He admitted in the investigation that he had met the victim about two years ago through his friend. He was told that she had sex with men for money.
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On March 1, 2013, they met in Jebel Ali.

"I called her and we took a taxi. We walked to a sandy area behind a dune," he confessed to the investigators.

After having sex, the woman asked for Dh500.

"I told her I only got Dh200 but she did not want that. She said the road was near and she would report me to the police," he claimed.
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He said that as she grabbed him by his shirt, he felt scared and could not stop himself from pulling her by the scarf she wore around her neck. "I pulled each end of the scarf in the opposite way around her neck for more than one minute and a half," he told the prosecutor.

As she became motionless he knew she was dead and he became very frightened. He took her mobile phone, leaving her body behind.

The police apprehended the man after tracking the victim's mobile phone. "He kept the victim's phone in his place and used it. Besides, we knew that there were many phone calls between them on that day," a police lieutenant said.

Another police major said that the woman's body was found in an advanced decomposition state on May 1, 2014: "Her labor card was next to her body. At her accommodation, we learnt that she had absconded from work since March 2013".

The verdict may be challenged at the Court of Cassation.

mary@khaleejtimes.com