Worker kills housemaid in Dubai, jailed for life

Dubai - He used to work at the villa as a gardener.

A 22-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing a housemaid as he broke into a villa looking for valuables to steal.
The Pakistani man, who is a construction worker, struck the Filipina maid with a piece of metal at her sponsor's villa in Al Barsha on March 9 last year.
The Dubai Court of First Instance found him guilty and ordered that he be deported after serving his life sentence (25 years).
During the investigation, he claimed he only wanted the victim to lose consciousness so he could go about what he went for. But when he struck her on the head and saw her bleeding profusely, he panicked. He also beat the family's pet dog badly.
In court, he denied the charges of murder, attempted armed robbery, trespassing, and assault of a pet. He was convicted of all charges.
A police captain, who arrested the defendant in connection with the case, told the prosecutor: "He confessed that he entered the villa looking for valuables to steal. He used to work there as a gardener before he got into a labour dispute with the contracting company he worked for.
"He knew the place and he made his way inside the premises through a hole in the fence. He claimed he had no intention to kill the victim."
Another police captain, who interrogated the accused, said the latter admitted that he hit the victim on the head with the intention to kill her as he was worried she saw his face. He assaulted her from behind.
The villa owner, a 59-year-old Tanzanian manager, said he was with his wife at a hotel playing golf at the time of the incident.
The forensic doctor explained that the victim had multiple head injuries and defensive wounds in her hand. The murder tool could be a heavy driller, the one used in landscaping.
The defendant can file an appeal within 15 days.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai