Bus driver in Dubai jailed for life for screwdriver murder in marriage row

An Indian man receives life imprisonment for killing his compatriot as he did not approve of his victim trying to marry his sister-in-law.

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DUBAI // An Indian bus driver killed a compatriot after hitting him on the head with a metal bar, then stabbing him twice in the neck with a screwdriver because the man wanted to marry his sister-in-law.

R R, 31, was jailed for life at Dubai Criminal Court on Tuesday after it was revealed he also put the body of his victim, S K, in a plastic bag, stole his mobile phone and then dumped the bag in Nad Al Sheba on February 14 last year.

After buying the large bag, he drove his bus to his victim’s room to talk about S K harassing his wife’s family.

The killer asked him to discuss it so they drove from Naif to near Al Khail Mall, in Al Quoz, where they argued and he hit his victim with a stick.

They went to a remote area of Nad Al Sheba, where a fight broke out.

The killer hit him on the back of his head with a metal bar, fracturing his skull. The victim was still breathing so his attacker stabbed him twice in the neck with a screwdriver.

The dumped bag was found two days later and the killer was arrested the following day.

Emirati police captain M A, 33, said that the tread marks of his bus were found in the area where the body was discovered.

The dead man’s identification card was also found in a small wallet he was hiding in his underwear.

The captain testified that the killer confessed to the crime, and said that after the murder he returned to his room and had a shower, then ate. It was the next morning before he cleaned the bloodstains from his bus.

“He said the reason behind the murder was a dispute between the two over a girl back in India but he did not explain more,” said the policeman.

Prosecutors said R R planned the murder.

The killer’s co-worker T A, 21, told the court he came to his room on February 15 and gave him a mobile phone.

“He asked me to hide it with me and use it if I wanted to,” the colleague said.

He said his workmate returned a few hours later to ask for the phone back.

“He took it and hid it in the false ceiling while demanding that I say nothing about the mobile.”

The colleague said the victim’s brother told him that the dispute between the two was because the victim wanted to marry R R’s sister-in-law but he did not approve.

The defendant did not enter a plea in court last July but the court convicted him of premeditated murder and sentenced him to life in jail, which amounts to 25 years under UAE law.

He was given another two years for stealing the dead man’s mobile phone, and will be deported after completing his jail terms.

salamir@thenational.ae