Dubai, Dec 23: An Indian national along with his Pakistani friend will face the firing squad in the UAE after Dubai’s highest court upheld their death sentence for killing the Indian’s wife.
The woman had accused her husband of committing adultery with a Filipina.
The death sentence, handed down to the Indian man identified only as AQ and his Pakistani friend RA, for strangling the woman in 2013, was upheld by Cassation Court on Monday.
AQ and RA lost their legal battle and will be executed for strangling the woman in bed before putting her body in a garbage bag and dumping it in Al Fuqaa area, Gulf News reported.
Following three consecutive hearings at the Dubai Cassation Court, presiding judge Abdul Aziz Abdullah rejected the appeals for a reduced punishment and upheld the verdict.
In October, the Dubai Appeal Court dismissed the duo’s appeal and upheld the death sentence given to them. The two had pleaded not guilty.
AQ’s father said his late daughter-in-law constantly complained to him over the phone, saying his son often beat her and cheated on her with a Filipina.
A police officer said AQ confessed to have killed his wife because he could not afford to pay her maintenance (as per Indian laws) if he divorced her. The two friends then murdered the woman while she slept.
The case came up in court in September 2013. A Bangladeshi cleaner discovered the woman’s body, according to records.
The ruling of the Cassation Court is final.
The death penalty is rarely applied in the UAE, also because it can be commuted if the family of the victim forgives the murder, accepting financial compensation for the crime, according to Hands Off Cain, a non-profit organisation for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide.
