Prosecutors want death penalty in Moosa murder case

Public prosecutors say they will press for the death penalty if the man accused of killing a Pakistani child in Dubai is convicted of his murder.

Mukhtiar Ahmed Khudabaksh with his son Mustaffa, 7, and other relatives at home in Dubai.

DUBAI // Public prosecutors yesterday told The National they will press for the death penalty if the man accused of killing a Pakistani child in Dubai is convicted of his murder. Yousif Mohammed Foulaz, the chief prosecutor who is handling the case, said investigations were near completion and the accused would soon be referred to the courts.

"Dubai Public Prosecution will be asking for the maximum penalty against the suspect, which is the death penalty," he said in a statement to The National. The body of four-year-old Moosa Mukhtiar Ahmed was found in the bathroom of a mosque in Al Qusais, Dubai, on the first day of Eid. The boy, who lived close to the mosque, was allegedly lured there before noon prayers with the promise of Eid gifts.

Prosecutor Foulaz said yesterday that the suspect will today be taken to the location, at Shabiyat al Qusais, as part of a re-enactment of the alleged crime. The prosecution identified the suspect as an Emirati man of Bahraini origin. Earlier this week, the police said he had a criminal record of sexual assault against men. Major Gen Khamis al Maziena, the deputy commander general of Dubai Police, said the suspect was arrested during a round-up of men with criminal records. He said the man had confessed to the crime.

Moosa's father, Mukhtiar Ahmed Khudabaksh, said yesterday: "I am hurt and destroyed by this. After hearing what the man did to my son, I want that he should just be shot dead. "My wife is inconsolable. She has been crying and is not able to get over it." He said they had first assumed the boy died from a fall but were later told by police he was murdered. The family, who hail from the Multan region of Pakistan, have lived in Dubai for decades.

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