Dubai labourer gets 15 years for murdering prostitute

DUBAI // A labourer linked to the murder of a prostitute by DNA traces left on his cigarette was today sentenced to 15 years in prison.

MK, 27, from Bangladesh, strangled the prostitute - whose identity is unknown - with her shayla after paying her only half of the Dh100 fee she demanded for having sex with him.

Police found her badly decomposed body at an abandoned house in Al Mankhool on May 24 this year following a tip-off. The body was lying on a couch and covered by a wooden bar. It had become so decomposed her skull and arm bones were showing.

Forensic experts, who believe the woman died months previously, matched traces of DNA found on a discarded cigarette butt next to the dead body to the labourer.

The Criminal Court found him guilty on a charge of premeditated murder.

He will be deported after completing his prison term.

salamir@thenational.ae