Dubai: A man has been accused of killing a hotel worker, stabbing him 28 times, because the latter allegedly stalked his sister and defamed her on Facebook.
Prosecutors have charged K.A, 27, with the premeditated murder of D.N.
The suspect, an Indian national, is said to have lured the D.N, a Filipino, to the hotel’s basement parking and stabbed him repeatedly with a fruit knife.
When K.A. appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance, he pleaded not guilty and denied the accusation of premeditated murder.
Chief prosecutor Khalid Ameen Al Zarouni, Head of Rifaa Prosecution, asked the court to impose capital punishment on K.A.
Prosecutors said the defendant planned to murder the Filipino because he had allegedly been harassing and stalking his sister on Facebook and repeatedly calling her number.
The court heard that K.A. ensured D.N. was at work before he grabbed the knife and headed to the hotel to kill him.
According to prosecution records, the defendant hid the knife under his clothes. He lured D.N. to the underground parking area, and once he was sure they were alone, committed the murder.
Dubai Police’s forensic examiner, who carried out the autopsy, confirmed the victim had suffered 28 knife wounds to his upper body.
“The victim had knife cuts on his neck and arms which evidently meant that he tried to fight back against the assailant and defend himself. The number of knife wounds signified the suspect held so much ferocity inside of him and wanted to ensure the victim’s death,” the forensic examiner told prosecutors.
Police identified the defendant soon after from the footage on surveillance cameras in the hotel lobby and basement parking.
Records said the accused was arrested shortly before he boarded a plane at Dubai International Airport. At the time of his arrest, he had his right arm bandaged.
A Somali police corporal claimed K.A. admitted to him that he stabbed D.N. because the latter allegedly harassed and stalked his sister over the internet. “He alleged that he disposed of the murder weapon and the clothes that he wore during the crime in the garbage but we never found them as the garbage had been removed.”
The hotel staff identified the defendant five times when police lined up suspects. During questioning, the suspect alleged that D.N. had worked with his sister in India.
K.A. claimed that he lodged a police complaint in India against D.N. for harassing his sister over the internet and through Facebook, texts and phone calls. The suspect claimed that D.N. continued harassing his sister and stalking her after he was sacked from his job in India and found employment in the hotel in Dubai.
The police corporal testified: “K.A. alleged that the victim threatened him over the phone, that he and his sister would die, when he [the suspect] failed to resolve the matter with him. The suspect claimed that he hid the knife under his clothes and went to meet the victim. When they met, D.N. refused to stop harassing his sister, claimed K.A. The latter alleged that when he warned D.N. that he would report his actions to Dubai police, the Filipino shouted and threatened to kill him.”
Records said K.A. stabbed D.N. twice in the stomach and when D.N. kicked him back, the former stabbed him until he died.
The court reconvenes on October 7.
