Murderer's jail term increased to life sentence

Dubai: A young worker who smashed his workmate's head with a rock following a sex scandal will spend 25 years in jail after a court stiffened his initial sentence.

The Dubai Court of Appeal increased the 23-year-old Indian, B.A.'s, initial sentence of 15-year term to a life imprisonment. The appeal's court also awarded him an additional month in jail for consuming liquor. He will be deported after serving his term.

The Public Prosecution charged the Indian with consuming liquor and murdering his compatriot, identified as S.D., after hitting his head with a rock twice.

A Yemeni policeman, who questioned B.A., said: "He told me that he was having a homosexual affair with the deceased. He told me that other workers were enchanted by the idea and pursued the victim, but he refused."

The policeman said the victim felt insulted and quarrelled with the defendant. "B.A. then slept outside the room in which the victim was sleeping. Later when he woke up he smashed the victim's head with a stone twice," he added.

An Indian witness said he saw B.A. committing the crime when he woke up after hearing a commotion in the room at a construction site. B.A. then stormed out of the room. Later police arrested him.