Dubai: Dubai Court of Appeal upheld the 10-year jail sentence of a man and his wife who tortured and starved the man’s mother to death, it was announced on Sunday.
The 29-year-old defendant and his 28-year-old wife, both Indian, tortured the man’s mother inside their Al Ghusais residence, starving the victim until she weighed just 29-kg.
According to Dubai Court of First Instance, the couple tortured the victim from July 2018, until her death in October 2018, because she wasn’t adequately looking after her granddaughter.
They were found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in jail to be followed by deportation by the Dubai Coirt of First Instance last October.
On Sunday, the appeal court confirmed the verdict.
An Indian neighbour testified that she met the wife in the building and she had told her that her mother-in-law had come from India to look after their daughter, but she neglected the child and wasn’t changing the girl’s nappies, which caused the girl to become ill.
“After a few days, I was in the laundry area when I saw the an elderly woman looking miserable and pitiful,” said the neighbour. “There were signs of burns on her body as she was wearing a sari. I asked her what happened but she refused to answer and left,” added the neighbour.
Soon after, the neighbour reported the woman’s condition to the building’s security guard who searched every apartment to find out where the woman was staying. When they reached the defendants’ flat they found the victim laying on the floor.
“The man was standing near her and he said that she was his mother. He claimed that she didn’t want to sleep on the bed,” said the neighbour. “I called for an ambulance as the woman was in critical condition. I tried to fix her clothes but her sari was stuck to her burned body and she was crying in pain,” added the neighbour.
The woman was transferred to Rashid Hospital but she died a month later.
According to a forensic report, the man’s mother, who was in her 50s, suffered multiple burns and broken bones as result of sustained torture and physical assault. She was only 29-kg when she arrived to the hospital and reports confirmed that she had been starved, tortured and neglected for months leading up to her death.
The verdict will be subject for appeal within 15 days.
