Dubai: A businesswoman, who stabbed her boyfriend to death with a 25cm-long knife after he rejected her marriage proposal, will spend 15 years behind bars
The 35-year-old Russian businesswoman stabbed her Palestinian lover three times in the chest and killed him in August 2014 after he refused to marry her.
The woman was drunk when she stabbed the victim and slept beside his corpse on her bed before she called the police the next day.
In February, the Dubai Cassation Court overturned a 10-year imprisonment that was handed to the Russian convict and referred the case back to the Dubai Appeal Court to hold a fresh trial.
Prosecutors had appealed the 10-year punishment and they sought it to be stiffened.
The woman defendant sought to have her punishment reduced by the appellate court where she pleaded not guilty contending that she did not intend to kill the victim.
On Sunday, presiding judge Eisa Al Sharif rejected the Russian businesswoman’s appeal and accepted prosecutors’ appeal.
“The defendant will be jailed for 15 years. She will be referred to the Dubai Misdemeanours Court for having consensual sex with the victim and consuming alcohol. She will be deported following the completion of her punishment,” said presiding judge Al Sharif.
The accused had claimed that she acted in self-defence after the victim assaulted her.
The woman also contended in court that she loved the victim, and lent him Dh500,000 and bought him two cars.
According to the appeal ruling, the blood parents’ [successors of the victim] lawsuit was referred to the Dubai Civil Court.
A policeman testified that the defendant was found crying bitterly beside the victim’s body when police arrived at her flat where the crime happened.
“I communicated with her over the phone since she reported to us that she had murdered someone. She was devastated and her right arm was covered with a white bandage soaked with blood … she opened the door when I arrived there. She was sitting on the floor while holding the victim’s legs. She said she loved him and that she had lent him money and bought him two cars but he refused to marry her. She said that she discovered that he was married and had been exploiting her financially as he took between Dh10,000 and Dh20,000 from her every now and then.
“On the night of the incident, the woman said they had a heated argument over their relationship. Then each of them left for a bar and consumed liquor. She claimed that when she returned to the flat after 90 minutes she had another fight with the victim over the money she had given to him,” said the policeman.
A police lieutenant said the accused was drunk when she returned to the flat and stabbed her boyfriend who was asleep.
“She said she slept on his chest till noon when she called the police,” said the lieutenant.
A Syrian friend, who was the last person to see the victim shortly before his death, testified: “We left a coffee shop at 9pm. We met again at the same place at midnight and he seemed depressed and he told me that he was not feeling comfortable with the Russian woman any more. He told me he wanted to break up with her. Then we went to a pub. Later I called him at 3.30am and he told me that he was about to enter the flat. At noon the next day, the defendant told me over the phone that she had killed my friend. She was a jealous woman.”
A Jordanian friend said the accused constantly asked the victim’s friends if he had relationships with other women.
Sunday’s ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 30 days.
