Fujairah: Shortly after the break of dawn on Friday, it seemed as if all the villagers of Taiba in Fujairah poured out of their modest desert homes to pay tribute to a daughter of the community lost to domestic violence.
The 29-year-old Emirati victim, police told Gulf News, was strangled to death on Thursday by her husband following a domestic dispute. He allegedly used his aghal — the traditional Emirati headgear placed on top of the white headscarf — to commit the crime.
Police confirmed that the husband is an ex-police officer and that an investigation into the case is ongoing.
In death, the victim was surrounded by loved ones in her village — hundreds of people including family members, friends, neighbours — attended the funeral at Taiba mosque.
One relative told Gulf News shortly after the paying of respects that the loss has sent shockwaves through the family as well as the small, tightly knit community.
The couple were married two years ago and they have only one child, a baby girl, he said.
“Marital problems spread between the couple. The problems started after a short time of their marriage. The deceased had worked in Abu Dhabi and she lived at her brother’s house. She spent all week in Abu Dhabi and during the weekends she came home to her family’s house where she kept her one-year-old daughter.”
Despite marital problems, the family said they are reeling in the aftermath of the death because the husband was by all accounts a good man.
“We all knew the man. He was a gentle man and we are shocked at this deed. We do not know what happened between the couple at the time. We heard that the woman came from Abu Dhabi to her mother’s house to see her daughter, then her husband went to the house and inside the room a fighting started between them, then it developed and he lost his temper.”
The father and the mother of the husband, he said, were devastated by the news to the point that the father had to be admitted to hospital.
Meanwhile, a Fujairah police official told Gulf News that the incident took place at Waum area in Dibba town on Thursday.
The police operations room received a call at 3.45pm reporting the incident.
A team including forensic experts were dispatched to the scene and found the woman already dead.
The deceased’s husband fled from the scene, but police tracked him and placed him in custody.
Meanwhile, their one-year-old baby girl is being kept with her grandmother.
The investigation continues.
