Dubai: A jobless man admitted in court Monday that he beat a Kenyan woman but claimed that he did not intend to kill her.
Prosecutors accused the 23-year-old Emirati suspect, A.A., of intentionally beating the 29-year-old woman, Esther Wanjiru Mwikamba, and causing her death without intending to do so.
The defendant was also accused of molesting the victim's 28-year-old Kenyan friend, A.J., after the women walked out of a five-star hotel on Shaikh Zayed Road.
"I assaulted her… but I never intended to kill her. And I did not molest the other woman," A.A. said when he defended himself before the Dubai Court of First Instance.
Chief Prosecutor Khalid Al Zarouni asked the court to implement the toughest punishment applicable, ten years in jail, against the defendant.
‘Stunned'
According to the charge sheet, prosecutor Ahmad Al Attar said A.A. punched Esther in her face and she fell down and her head hit the ground then he kicked her repeatedly in the head.
Forensic reports said on March 20 Esther died of head injuries after battling for life for nearly 31 days at Rashid Hospital's intensive care unit. Esther, a former sales clerk, was in a coma for a month after she was brutally assaulted.
A.J., a hostess, testified the incident happened around 3.30am after she and her friends left a nightclub.
"The suspect walked straight to us… he touched my posterior…He looked at me …and groped my breast. When I asked him why he did so, he replied because his skin colour is like mine… I was stunned…Then his friend came and pulled him away and apologised… The friend told me the suspect was intoxicated. I headed to my car but when I looked back, I saw Esther down on the floor and the suspect beating her brutally. I rushed to help her and called for help," A.J. said.
Presiding Judge Hamad Abdul Latif Abdul Jawad adjourned the case until June 28.
