Sharjah: The murder of an eight-year-old Jordanian boy who was abducted from Sharjah and found dead in Dubai has left a painful mark on the entire society, His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, said on Sunday.
Obaida Ebrahim Al Sedqi Al Aqrabawi was abducted from an industrial area in Sharjah and his body was discovered in Al Warqa’a area by Dubai Police who also announced the arrest of a 48-year-old suspect.
Dr Shaikh Sultan made these remarks as he offered condolences to the family and relatives of Obaida during a visit to the mourning tent in Sharjah Industrial area on Sunday. He expressed his heartfelt condolences to the family of the child, who was inhumanely killed by a man who has a criminal record.
Dr Shaikh Sultan said he stands by the family and said the support of the entire society is with Obaida’s family. The family expressed their heartfelt thanks to the Sharjah ruler for his visit and kind words.
The Jordanian boy was kidnapped and killed by a 48-year-old Jordanian suspect after attempted rape, police said.
The boy’s body was found in Al Warqa’a area on May 22 by Dubai Police two days after he was kidnapped by the suspect. The man was a customer of the boy’s father who runs a car repair workshop. The boy was strangled after he resisted the attacker, police said.
Obaida was reported missing from his home in Sharjah’s Industrial Area 8 where his father, Ebrahim Al Aqrabawi, runs a car repair workshop on the ground floor of the building where the family lives.
The suspect, who had been a customer at the workshop and a frequent visitor for three weeks before the abduction, had befriended Obaida, the boy’s mother told Gulf News in an earlier interview.
The suspect confessed to the police that he had visited the workshop and invited Obaida to watch a cartoon in his borrowed vehicle and subsequently abducted him and attempted to sexually assault him. He also told the police he had been drinking alcohol that night.
Earlier, Dubai Police also appointed a police officer to provide legal and social help to the family of the victim. The assigned officer will help the family with any procedures, provide whatever kind of legal, psychological and social support they need during the upcoming period and through all stages of the case, which has become an issue of public debate.
— With inputs from WAM
