Dubai: A storekeeper will spend three years behind bars for strangling his wife while he was under the influence of liquor after suspecting that she had cheated on him.

The 33-year-old Indian storekeeper, S.S., had a heated argument with his wife over her alleged extramarital affair with another man.

He killed her at their residence in Bur Dubai and turned himself in to the police in August 2013.

The Dubai Appeal Court upheld S.S.’s three-year imprisonment after it rejected prosecutors’ appeal to stiffen the punishment.

In July, the Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced the defendant to three years in jail followed by deportation. He was also fined Dh3,000 for consuming alcohol.

Prosecutors appealed the primary ruling and sought a tougher punishment.

According to Wednesday’s ruling, presiding judge Saeed Salem Bin Sarm rejected prosecutors’ appeal and upheld the primary verdict.

The accused had entered a not guilty plea and denied any intention of killing his wife.

He contended that they had a dispute and he suspected that she had cheated on him.

“That evening we had a heated argument that developed into a fight. I did not have any intention to kill her. I was under the influence of liquor. She had prepared a bag to leave the house when the fight erupted,” the defendant told the appellate court.

Records said S.S. threw his wife on the bed and strangled her.

Prosecution records said the postmortem carried out on the wife confirmed that she had had sex with a man other than her husband.

The wife had put her clothes and personal belongings in a bag as she was about to leave the house, according to a policeman who examined the crime scene.

“The defendant walked in to the police station drunk around 3am. He seemed confused. When I asked him what he wanted, he claimed that he had a fight with his wife and killed her. He alleged that he suspected that she had cheated on him… they got into a heated argument. He claimed that when his wife belittled and cursed him, he got angry and strangled her. Police found the dead wife on the bed. There was a bag that contained her clothes and apparently she wanted to move out,” claimed the policeman.

The appellate ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 30 days.