Abu Dhabi: The Court of Cassation in Abu Dhabi reduced a death penalty, handed down by the Abu Dhabi Appeals Court to an Asian school cleaner who raped a seven-year old girl from the GCC and threatened to kill her, and sentenced him to 10 years in jail instead, to be followed by deportation.
The Criminal Court had initially sentenced the defendant to death, which was also upheld by the Abu Dhabi Appeals Court.
The defendant’s lawyer negotiated the verdict with the Abu Dhabi Appeals Court, which reviewed the verdict and upheld the death penalty for the second time.
However, after several negotiations on the matter, the Court of Cassation decided today (Tuesday) to reduce the defendant’s penalty to 10 years in jail instead, and ordered his deportation upon completion of his term.
The Court of Cassation said there was not enough evidence to prove that the defendant had attempted to kill the victim, which is why the verdict had been amended.
According to previous court records, the defendant had forced the seven-year old girl into the kitchen, raped her and threatened to kill her and her mother if she reported this crime to anyone.
When the victim returned home, her obvious signs of pain drove her family to seek a medical examination for her, which revealed that she had been raped.
Maisoon Mubarak is a trainee at Gulf News.
