Death penalty upheld for man who killed, raped Pakistani boy in UAE

Abu Dhabi - The ruling was submitted to the President for approval, according to court authorities.

A Pakistani man, who was convicted of strangling an 11-year-old boy to death after raping him at the rooftop of their Abu Dhabi building, will be executed upon the approval of the President, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation has upheld the decision of the lower courts that handed the death sentence to the 33-year-old man, finding him guilty of murder, rape and a number of other charges.
The ruling was submitted to the President for approval, according to court authorities.
The cassation court judge has also cancelled previous decisions that asked the Pakistani to pay the Dh200,000 blood money to the victim’s family.
The judge said in his ruling that the court had unanimously made a decision to sentence the Pakistani man to death.
“The execution will be implemented based on Islamic laws,” said the judge.
The Pakistani boy — identified as Azan Majid — was found missing on June 1, 2017, after he went to a nearby mosque to pray. His body was found the next day on the rooftop of a building on Muroor Road, where he was staying with his father and stepmother.
Court records stated that the boy was sexually abused and strangled to death with a rope by the Pakistani national, who is also related to the child. The police said the man dressed as a woman to carry out the attack. He then lured the boy into going with him to the rooftop.
A psychiatric report said the Pakistani didn’t suffer from any mental illness and that he was conscious, stable and was fully responsible for his actions.
The Abu Dhabi Public Prosecution had charged the Pakistani with premeditated murder, rape, cross-dressing and driving a car without a number plate.
Both the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance and the Appeal Court had earlier found him guilty on all counts and he was handed the death penalty.
Denying the charges, the man challenged the ruling in the Capital’s highest court. “I am innocent and I have never committed any crime,” he said.
When the judge asked him about his confession at the police and the public prosecution, the Pakistani said it was all done under duress. “I was made into confessing to the crimes by the security officers,” said the man.
The lawyer representing him also told the court that the prosecutors had not presented sufficient evidence. The cassation court judge, however, rejected the claims and upheld the previous court rulings.
The boy’s Pakistani father and Russian mother refused to take blood money from the defendant when court officials consulted and asked them if they would consider pardoning the man. They have always insisted on handing the death penalty to the killer-rapist.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi