Dubai: A week after a Dubai Court sentenced an Indian man to death for brutally murdering a Bur Dubai housewife last year, residents of the building where the incident took place are relieved.
The face of the Salem Belarti building on Rolla Street has itself undergone a sea change since September 26 when a 36-year-old woman from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu was found dead in the safety of her own apartment on the sixth floor.
The Dubai Court of First Instance found a 28-year-old Indian accountant guilty of killing the woman by slitting her throat before fleeing with her jewellery. He had gone to her flat on the pretext of asking for a receipt for a second-hand washing machine he had bought from her husband.
But unlike the unmonitored entry of visitors at that time, the building boasts beefed up security now.
A guard from a private security agency in charge of the building told XPRESS that four cameras had been installed in the corridor in addition to two cameras on each of the seven floors. “I have also been given a CCTV camera in my room,” he said.
Residents moving in and out of the building said they feel safe in the building now and are grateful that speedy justice had been delivered in the case.
“I heard about the incident when I moved into the building in January. It is very heartening that the authorities have been able to deliver justice at such speed,” said Vivek, a resident on the first floor.
A woman living on the sixth floor whose daughter went to the same school as the victim’s son said: “I still remember that fateful day when this child’s mother did not come down to collect him from the school bus. He used to travel in the same bus as my daughter who is in Grade 2.”
She said the woman’s face still flashes in her mind when she walks past her apartment although she did not interact with her.
The security guard said the victim’s family had moved out of the building after the incident. “New tenants live there now,” he noted.
Ali, who runs a cafeteria on the ground floor, said, “We were so disturbed when the incident took place. But I am happy to hear the court’s verdict.”
