Gardener, 29, strangled elderly employer with bed sheet in Dubai
Defendant claims victim was mistreating him and didn’t pay his salary
Dubai: A Dubai gardener has gone on trial for murdering his elderly employer.
The Dubai Court of First Instance heard on Sunday that the 29-year-old Pakistani defendant killed the Emirati victim by strangling him with a bed sheet because of bad treatment and non-payment of full salary.
According to official records, in June 2020, the victim’s wife left him alone with the defendant at their house in Al Muraqabbat area and went outside. She returned after two hours and saw the victim who told her that the deceased had fallen on the ground. “I thought he had fallen again as he was sick and suffered from diabetes. I asked him to call the ambulance and called the victim’s sons. My husband had a surgery in his eyes and can’t hear well,” said the 42-year-old wife in official records.
Dubai Police was alerted after the paramedics noticed a fabric around the victim’s neck. This led the family to suspect the defendant, who escaped on the same day. “The victim’s wife said that he worked illegally with them as he is on different sponsorship. He was arrested on the next day and admitted to killing the victim,” the Emirati policeman said, according to official records.
The defendant said that the victim’s son brought him to look after his father for Dh2,000 per month. But the victim only paid him Dh800 for two months before reducing his salary to Dh600. “The defendant claimed that victim used to abuse him. He alleged that he used to beat him with a stick and insult him all the time.”
Details of the crime
The defendant said on the day of the incident, the victim asked him to prepare tea and serve him shisha. However, he claimed that victim beat him as he was late in serving him tea. “The defendant admitted that he pushed the victim and knocked him on the ground before sitting on his chest and used a bed sheet to strangle him to death. He then sat beside the body for an hour,” the Emirati policeman added.
The victim’s son told Dubai Police, that before the incident, his father told his stepmother that the Pakistani defendant will kill him one day.
Dubai Public Prosecution has charged the defendant with premeditated murder and asked the court to punish him with death sentence. The trial has been delayed to later next month.