DUBAI : Murder in International City! Sentenced to life in prison
A 26-year-old Asian man has been sentenced to life in prison for strangling his girlfriend to death, hiding her body under a bed and later in a suitcase, a Dubai court has ruled.
The Dubai Court of Appeals on April 29 upheld the sentence handed down by a lower court in September last year. The convict will be deported after serving his sentence, the ruling added.
Court records show that on January 26, 2022, the woman was at the man's residence in International City when they had a heated argument.
As the fight escalated, the man strangled his girlfriend and hid her body under the bed. He also threw her belongings - including her cell phone - down a sewer pipe, the records add.
The man's roommate went home and went out shopping without noticing the woman's body.
Early the next morning, the man traveled to Jebel Ali, booked a hotel room and then texted his two roommates to inform them of the murder. The two insisted that he take the body out of the apartment.
Court records show that on January 29, 2022, he purchased a large suitcase and packed the body inside before dumping it near a trash can, where it was discovered by a security guard.
"The police operations room received a call from the building's security guard who said that when he tried to open the suitcase to check it, a human leg was sticking out of it," a police officer told the court.
Police quickly identified the victim through their investigation and linked the defendant to the crime. The defendant was arrested on the same day and when questioned by the police, he said he met the woman at a dance club.
"We became a couple and she used to visit me at my apartment," the defendant said on the record.
Although the man initially admitted to the crime during police interrogation, he later denied the charges in court. However, he was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
His roommate was also charged, but denied failing to report the crime. They were each sentenced to three months' imprisonment and deported at the end of their sentences.
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