Death sentence for husband who killed prostitute

A married man who lost his savings to a prostitute before he cut her throat is sentenced to death.

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DUBAI // A married man who lost his savings to a prostitute before he cut her throat has been sentenced to death.

The Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance convicted AK, a 29-year-old worker from Pakistan, with the premeditated murder of SH despite his claims that he only meant to scare her. It also convicted him of theft.

The court heard that AK met SH, from Uzbekistan, three months before the killing when he paid her Dh100 to have intercourse with him. Six days before her death he visited her studio apartment in Al Mutaina, where he said she persuaded him to drink alcohol. The pair had intercourse again and AK passed out.

After AK woke up and returned to his room opposite the Naif Police Station, he discovered Dh6,000 was missing.

"I pleaded to her several times to return the money, but she refused and repeated to me that she had taken money from many people and never returned it," AK said.

On the morning of April 28, armed with a 16-inch knife he had purchased at Milbar Super Market, AK walked to SH's apartment. She opened the door wearing a nightgown and frowned when she saw him. He begged her to return the money and told her how long he had been saving and how he planned to send the money to his poor wife.

AK said that when SH refused to return the money, he pulled out a copy of the Quran and read her some verses to "soften her heart". He said she knocked the book out of his hand, which infuriated him.

Prosecutors said he pulled SH out of her gown, then grabbed her by her hair with his left hand before cutting her throat three times.

"I threw her face down on her bed," he said. AK then took Dh200 from her purse and two mobile phones, before discarding the knife in her flat and leaving.

"She deserved to die," AK said, adding that on his way home, he prayed at a mosque and did not feel any remorse.

SH's husband tried calling his wife several times and when she failed to answer he asked his friend in Dubai to check on her.

MS, a 42-year-old from Pakistan, found her door unlocked. "When I walked in, I saw her dead body and immediately called the police," he said.

Footage of AK at the supermarket where he bought the knife was discovered by police officers who traced the bar code found on the murder weapon.

An officer said that AK was arrested in his room at about 2.30am on April 30. The prostitute's money and mobile phones were found with him.

The verdict is subject to appeal.

salamir@thenational.ae