Dubai: A movie director could use the Wudeema case and trial details and develop these into a great film, the father of the girl who was tortured to death, told a court on Sunday.
According to him, the way in which prosecutors described what happened was so dramatised that after the proceedings conclude, this whole case could be made into a movie, said the 30-year-old Emirati father when he entered an innocent plea before the Dubai Appeal Court.
“I died when my daughter Wudeema died. Prosecutors produced unimaginable details against me. The way in which they described the crime to have taken place was incredible,” the father Hamad S., who is on death row, told presiding judge Mahmoud Fahmi Sultan in courtroom 20.
In February, the Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced Hamad to death and handed his 28-year-old compatriot girlfriend, Al Onoud A., life in prison.
The couple was convicted of using merciless emotional and physical brutality, mistreatment and torturing eight-year-old Wudeema to death.
The two accused were also found guilty of of torturing Wudeema’s eight-year-old sister, Meera, causing her a 10 per cent permanent disability and burning her.
Hamad and Al Onoud pleaded not guilty and firmly rejected the accusation of mistreating the two sisters, torturing them, keeping them unfed and confining them in the washroom and in a locked flat for a period of six months in Al Warqa.
Shortly after entering their pleas, Hamad requested permission from presiding judge Sultan to address the court.
The Emirati accused spoke in a tense tone and was inconsistent in his argument.
He was heard telling the judge: “I would like to clarify some points. Prosecutors said the flat was inappropriate for living, eating or drinking. How come they did not mention anything about the cake, mixed nuts and sweets? There was good food in the flat and it was not all rotten as alleged. The prosecution witnesses gave inconsistent statements before the primary court.”
Hamad further countered the accusation that he caused a permanent disability to his daughter Meera.
“When she got injured, I sent her to the hospital for treatment. But doctors failed to fix the cast properly to her arm. Meanwhile. the forensic examiner’s statement was full of discrepancies,” contended the accused father.
During police and prosecution questioning Al Onoud’s pregnancy caused her mental pressure, which affected her emotional state, explained the father.
“Ask any doctor who will confirm that pregnancy affects a woman’s emotional state… hence she was suffering when she confessed,” Hamad pointed out. The convicted father claimed that he would prefer to be executed rather than have his son [mothered by Al Onoud] raised with the thought that he is an illegitimate child.
“I love my children so much. Meera claimed to my brother that I loved them and treated them well and did not do anything bad to them. I don’t understand why my brother’s statement was not heard and why Meera’s statement was later changed. She was previewed on YouTube talking about judicious punishment… is there any child on earth who knows what judicious punishment means?” added Hamad.
The 30-year-old defendant also said his daughter Wudeema was possessed by s jinn and that Meera realised that she had a man’s voice when she spoke. “When I told that to prosecutors, they ridiculed me. Al Onoud burnt Meera one time but the rest of the burn injuries were caused by my ex-wife while my daughters were living with her,” said Hamad.
He provided the court with pictures of him and his children at hotels and in public places to confirm that he treated them well.
Lawyers will present their defence when the court reconvenes on April 14.
