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Woman acquitted of causing husband's death with friend's help

Dubai - The husband's body bore bruise marks and scratches all over, and the cause of death was injuries on his chest and internal bleeding

A Pakistani woman, who has been on trial along with her compatriot husband's friend, on the charge of unintentionally causing her husband's death after allegedly physically assaulting him, had her acquittal verdict upheld by the Court of Appeals on Wednesday.
The friend, however, had his 6-month jail term on a physical assault charge upheld.
The Court of Appeals ordered him to pay a fine of Dh5,000 and another fine of Dh 2,000 for consuming alcohol without a license. He is to be deported after completing his jail term and paying the fines.
In June, the wife, aged 37, was cleared of the fatal physical assault charge by the Court of First Instance. The other accused, a manager aged 47, was then sentenced to six months in jail on an assault charge and ordered to pay a total of Dh7,000 in fines.
According to the forensic report, the husband's clothes looked partially torn with some blood stains, which could have been the result of beating and a physical struggle. His body also bore bruise marks and scratches all over, mainly on the face, hands and feet. The cause of death was injuries on his chest and internal bleeding, worsened by suspected anaemia.
The wife said during the interrogation that her husband had been drinking with a friend for a few hours, when he suddenly collapsed. "After I prepared dinner for them, I went up to the roof and when I came downstairs later, I found my husband lying down. He had wet himself," she said.
As she covered her husband, she realised he had no pulse. She called a family friend who had a taxi and asked him to take her husband urgently to the hospital.
By the time the driver reached their house, the husband had already died. He told her to call the ambulance.
The driver bailed her out at Al Muraqqabat police station the following day by depositing his ID card. "I gave a statement in the case as a witness on November 4, last year, after being summoned by the police," the driver said.
The other accused told the officer that he went to the deceased man's house upon an invitation from the latter. "I brought alcohol with me. We drank till 10:30pm and when I entered the toilet, I heard a knocking on the door," he said.
He alleged that he walked out to see the husband behaving hysterically and trying to jump from the window. He claimed it took him about an hour to calm his friend down and get him to sleep. He was caught shortly later in Sharjah. The ruling remains subject to be challenged at the Court of Cassation.
mary@khaleejtimes.com