Pak duo get death for murdering brother-in-law in Dubai

Dubai - Pakistani victim allegedly married the defendants' sister without consent from family

Two Pakistani brothers were sentenced to death on Wednesday as the Court of First Instance convicted them of the premeditated murder of their brother-in-law for marrying their sister without their family's approval.

One of them, a 34-year-old, killed the victim, also Pakistani, after he lured him to a sandy yard in Satwa, where he beat him up and strangled him with a plastic rope. He was charged in absentia with premeditated murder.
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The other, a 26-year-old working as a driver, denied in court an aiding and abetting charge by planning the murder in revenge against the victim, who married their sister against their will.

According to prosecution records, the eldest brother fled the UAE about six hours before the crime was discovered.

A police lieutenant said that the cab company, for which the victim worked, reported him to the police after he failed to give back his car and was unreachable on his phone.

The police found his car with his body inside shortly afterwards by tracking the device installed in the cab.

"The victim's brother said that he suspected the two brothers as they held grudges against the victim for his marriage with their sister. The victim had lots of problems back in his home country because of that," the lieutenant said.

The victim's brother added that the victim told him about being contacted by the runaway accused the day before the crime and was to go meet him in Satwa to work out their differences. "Later on that day, the victim's brother tried to call him several times but could not reach him," the officer said.

The lieutenant said they learnt that the first accused left the country through the Dubai International Airport.

"We arrested the other brother in the same area of the murder. He confessed that he knew his brother was the perpetrator of the crime. He told us that there was a dispute between his family and the victim as the latter convinced their sister to elope with him and marry him after the family did not approve of that marriage," the lieutenant told the prosecutor.

He confessed that the plan was to kill the victim in their home country but his brother killed him in Dubai without telling him, the officer said.

The forensic expert said he examined the body around 10 pm on November 19, 2014, in the crime scene. "The injury marks found on the victim's neck showed he died of strangling with a plastic rope. The dirt on the body and on the back seat was a reason to believe he was killed outside of the vehicle and was then pulled inside," the expert said.

The ruling remains subject to appeal.

mary@khaleejtimes.com