Dubai: A driver has denied intentionally killing a prostitute, claiming he defended himself when she tried to strangle him after they quarrelled over her fees.
"I did not kill her premeditatedly...she offered to have sex for Dh25 but we fought over her fees. She pushed me and tried to strangle me. I almost suffocated...I grabbed the first thing I found and battered her head to force her to let go of me because I needed to breathe," said the 24-year-old Bangladeshi driver when he defended himself before the Dubai Court of First Instance.
Prosecutors charged the suspect, M.R., with the premeditated murder of Chinese sex worker L.M. and stealing her mobile phone.
The suspect pleaded not guilty and argued before Presiding Judge Fahmi Mounir: "She tried to kill me and I acted in self defence..."
Advocate Eisa Bin Haidar volunteered to defend M.R., when Presiding Judge Mounir asked if any lawyers present in the courtroom were ready to represent the suspect.
An Emirati police captain testified that the woman's body was found in a building in Naif.
Covered in blood
"We reached the flat and discovered that the Chinese woman, in her thirties, had been battered to death ... blood covered the floor and surrounding walls. Preliminary investigations unveiled that she succumbed two days before. A special investigation team was formed and combed the area until a suspect was arrested for possessing the woman's stolen mobile phone. He claimed that L.M. gave him the phone," the captain testified.
Records said the alleged murder was unveiled after neighbours complained to the building's watchman that a bad smell was coming from the victim's flat.
The trial continues.
