Boss drowns employee in UAE, jailed

Abu Dhabi - The victim refused to do a task that was assigned by the manager.

A manager, who drowned his employee for not following an order, has been sentenced to 10 years in jail. He has also been ordered to pay blood money of Dh200,000.
The Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation upheld the earlier ruling of the appeal court, which handed the sentence to the Asian man and found him guilty of murder.
Court records showed that the convict and the victim were longtime friends, hailing from the same village in their country.
When they came to the UAE, they got jobs in a private company in Abu Dhabi. The defendant was assigned to be a manager and the victim worked as part of his team.
A few weeks prior to the incident, the duo had a misunderstanding, which started when the victim refused to do a task that was assigned by the manager, saying it was not part of his job.
Police investigations showed that on the day of the incident, the manager, the victim and two other men went on an evening fishing trip.
While at sea, the men reportedly consumed a lot of alcohol. The manager then got into the water with his fishing hook and asked the victim to help him catch a big fish.
The victim, who didn't know how to swim, refused and remained seated near the sea, with his other colleagues. They were all reluctant to wade into the water after drinking.
When he decided to help his boss, the Asian manager dragged him to a deeper area of the sea. Then, the convict allegedly shoved the victim's head down and held it in the water until he died.
Claiming that the victim was being swept away by the high waves, the manager shouted for help and called their colleagues.
One of the men, who was also charged for not reporting the crime, told authorities that he saw the manager pushing their colleague into the water and holding him down for more than three minutes.
The man said they couldn't save the victim because he had already drowned when they were called.
The manager confessed to drowning the employee during his interrogations at the police and public prosecution.
The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance earlier sentenced him to death.
However, the appeal court later reduced the sentence to 10 years in jail, after the victim's family agreed to pardon the convict in return for blood money.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi