Man tries to burn grandmum alive for 'practising sorcery' in UAE

Abu Dhabi - The GCC national had lured the elderly woman into entering his car after he promised to buy her a new mobile phone.

A man tried to burn his grandmother alive inside a car because she had allegedly used black magic on him to turn him into a woman, the Abu Dhabi Cassation Court heard. The old woman escaped death but suffered burns in the incident.
The GCC national had lured the elderly woman into entering his car after he promised to buy her a new mobile phone.
The man then placed a gas cylinder, which was in a box, at the back of the car and drove her to their old abandoned house located in Al Wathba area of Abu Dhabi.
Prosecutors said the man then opened the cylinder nozzle that was near flammable materials inside the car, locked the vehicle's windows and doors and left the woman inside. He went to the old house waiting for the old woman to suffocate and burn to death after the car had caught fire. But on hearing her screaming so loudly, the man hurried to get her out of the burning car, fearing that people would hear her and come to her rescue.
The forensic report said the woman suffered second and third-degree burns to her face, ears, head, neck, back and fingers. The total body burns had covered 25 per cent of her body.
Public prosecutors had charged the GCC national with attempting to kill his grandmother.
The accused had confessed to prosecutors that he wanted to take revenge on his grandmother by killing her because he was tired of the problems the old woman caused him through witchcraft. He said his grandmother, who allegedly practiced sorcery, had tried to transform him into a woman using magic.
The Abu Dhabi Court of First Instance had sentenced the man to five years in jail and ordered him to pay Dh50,000 to the victim for the damages she suffered.
The man challenged the ruling at the appellate court which reduced the jail sentence to three years but upheld the compensation amount.
He then went to Abu Dhabi's top court where the cassation prosecution requested that his appeal be rejected because there was sufficient evidence to convict him.
Prosecutors also asked court to oblige the defendant to pay the legal fees.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi