DUBAI // An appeals court upheld a life sentence yesterday for an Indian cook convicted of killing a prostitute.
The 36-year-old defendant, AB, was accused of murdering a 49-year-old Azerbaijani woman after she agreed to have sex with him twice for Dh200. AB was convicted of consensual sex, premeditated murder and theft.
He was arrested on January 3 after the victim was discovered in her Deira apartment on December 30, 2009. Forensic reports showed she was asphyxiated.
"I was called by an Azerbaijani friend who asked me to check on the victim. She said her phone was off and she had not been seen for three days," testified MAK, 27, an Egyptian clerk who discovered the body. "When I went to the victim's house, I saw the body, called the owner of the flat and contacted police."
Police arrested AB after they questioned witnesses, records show. Upon his arrest, he allegedly told officers he had agreed to pay for sex with the victim, but after sleeping with her once she said she was tired and asked him to leave.
The defendant then argued with the victim and told her to return Dh100, but she refused and started screaming. AB silenced her by placing a pillow over her head until he killed her, records show.
A search of the defendant's home revealed that he had a chain belonging to the victim, her mobile phone and Dh310 he stole from her flat.
