Dubai: The woman murdered in her Bur Dubai apartment let her attacker into her home after the man answered an advertisement to buy her washing machine, Gulf News has learnt.
The Indian woman and her husband placed the ad in a local newspaper and a man responded, who then came to their studio apartment.
According to Dubai police— who arrested the suspect just 48 hours after the killing — the man saw the family had gold and jewellery and decided to return to the studio to rob them.
The Indian woman was home alone when her attacker struck on September 26.
Police revealed the victim’s throat was slashed three times in the violent murder.
They have now warned against allowing strangers into people's home.
The woman was a housewife and mother of a four-year-old.
Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Al Merri, Director of the Criminal Investigations Division at Dubai Police, said the crime happened because the woman opened her door to a stranger.
He said the Indian man came to the family’s studio, in Bur Dubai opposite Khalid Bin Al Waleed Road, after the family posted an ad in a local newspaper to sell their washing machine.
“The man called the phone number of the husband which was posted with the ad and he soon visited the family home in order to see the washing machine, claiming that he wanted to buy it.
“It seems the man saw a few pieces of gold on a table in the family’s room and he decided to come back a few days later to rob them.”
Lieutenant Colonel Al Merri said a few days after his first visit, the man came back to the family’s studio when the husband was at work and son was at school.
The crime happened at around 12pm.
“He killed the woman using a sharp knife and he stole money and a few pieces of gold,” Lieutenant Colonel Al Merri said.
He added: “It was discovered when the little son came back from school and his mother was not waiting for him as usual, the bus conductor took the child to his home [and] knocked on the door.”
Attempts by neighbours and the bus conductor to make the mother open the door failed.
“The neighbours were sure the mother was at home because her son was coming back from school and the bus dropped him in front of the building,” he said.
Lieutenant Colonel Al Merri said neighbours then contacted the woman’s husband who came back from work to open the door and find his wife in a pool of blood with her throat cut.
“The husband panicked and started behaving in a hysterical way in the room which made it difficult to trace any evidence which could lead to the murderer,” Al Merri said.
He added that intensive investigations of police led them to the murderer, found living in an area close to the family’s residence.
“The murderer lived in the opposite road,” he said.
Lieutenant Ahmad Al Merri said the man confessed to police that he committed the crime for money.
“The man, who is 30 years old, confessed that he decided to kill the woman after he went to their house for the first time, claiming that he wanted to buy the washing machine,” he said.
The suspect, who works for a private company in Dubai, admitted that he killed the woman because he was in desperate need for money and is bankrupt.
Lieutenant Ahmad Al Merri warned the public not to let strangers enter their home, whatever the reason.
“The public, especially women if they are alone or with small children, should not allow strangers into their house even if they met that stranger once or twice,” he said.
