Dubai: Two brothers have been accused of killing their brother-in-law by choking him with a plastic rope because he married their sister without the family’s consent.

A 34-year-old Pakistani man, F.A., who remains at large, was said to have lured his countryman brother-in-law, M.T., to discuss their family dispute in November 2014. F.A. convinced the deceased to meet him in a sandy area in Bur Dubai, according to records, where he beat him before strangling him with a plastic rope and fled the country shortly after the incident.

Prosecutors accused F.A. of premeditated murder.

His younger brother, 26-year-old I.A., was charged with aiding and abetting F.A.

When he showed up before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Wednesday, I.A. pleaded not guilty contending that he was not present at the crime scene. “I was busy at work. I did not participate in the crime …,” I.A. told presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi.

Prosecutors said the F.A. plotted to kill M.T. and brought a plastic rope to kill him.

I.A. aided and abetted his brother by encouraging him to take revenge on the victim for marrying their sister against their will.

A police lieutenant claimed to prosecutors that the victim’s boss reported to Dubai Police’s operations room that M.T. did not return the taxi car to the company.

“The boss informed us that M.T. went out on his shift as normal but he did not return on time. The boss also claimed that despite having repeatedly called the victim, he did not answer his phone. Upon tracking the car’s location, we reached the sandy area and discovered that the victim had been killed. Upon questioning the victim’s brother, he alleged that he suspected that F.A. and I.A. must have been involved in M.T.’s killing … the victim’s brother claimed that they had a family dispute after M.T. married the defendants’ sister against their will. The victim’s brother claimed that M.T. informed him that F.A. had called him the day before the incident and asked to meet him in Satwa to resolve the dispute. The brother claimed that on the same day M.T. did not answer his phone despite having called him several times.

“Primary interrogations revealed that the suspects had been involved in the victim’s murder. Immigration records confirmed that F.A. had fled the country six hours before the murder was discovered. Shortly after that we arrested I.A., who admitted that the family had agreed to kill M.T. in Pakistan. During questioning, the 26-year-old suspect claimed that he warned his brother to be patient and not to take a hasty decision and kill the victim in the UAE. I.A. claimed that his brother killed their brother-in-law without his knowledge,” testified the lieutenant.

Presiding judge Al Shamsi said the court will appoint a lawyer to defend I.A. when it reconvenes on February 28.