Trial for 11-year old boy's alleged killer begins on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi

Public prosecution has requested the maximum punishment for rape and murder — execution.

Tatiana Kruzina holds a picture of her son Athan. Behind is the father Majid Janjua. Haneen Dajani / The National
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The trial of a man accused of assaulting and killing an 11-year-old boy on the rooftop of an Abu Dhabi apartment building will begin at Criminal Court on Tuesday.

Prosecutors said the defendant, a middle-aged Pakistani man, disguised himself as a woman by wearing an abaya and face veil when he brought the youngster to the rooftop.

He allegedly tried to rape the boy and suffocated him with a rope. His body was found the next morning by maintenance workers.

Athan Janjua, born to a Pakistani father and Russian mother, was last seen, on the day of the incident, crossing the road to his building after his Quran class at the mosque across the street.

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Prosecutors said the alleged killer admitted to his crime which were supported by strong technical and circumstantial evidence.

He was charged with premeditated murder, disguising himself as a woman, and committing a traffic offence by driving a car without a number plate.

Public prosecution requested the maximum punishment for rape and murder — execution.

Abu Dhabi Attorney general Mohammed Al Buloushi, said he hopes the victim’s family and members of society will find consolation in the fact that the attacker was caught shortly after the incident and justice will be served.

“Public prosecution is keen on serving justice for the child Athan and his family, which could contribute to relieving some of their pain, and to build up society’s trust in police and judicial sources,” said the attorney general.

The defendant will be prosecuted under the federal penal code, which was last modified in 2005, and the federal child protection law number 3 of 2016 ‘Wadeema’. In addition to the new traffic regulations that came into effect last month.