Death sentence for iron-bar murderers upheld by highest court

The verdict by the Cassation Court means that the only avenue of appeal still open to the pair is to seek clemency from the Ruler of Dubai.

DUBAI // A pair of murderers who beat a man to death with an iron bar over a debt of Dh3,500 have had their death sentence upheld by the emirate’s highest court.

The verdict by the Cassation Court means that the only avenue of appeal still open to the pair is to seek clemency from the Ruler.

M G, 29, and R N, 23, both labourers from Bangladesh, tricked their compatriot and colleague R A A into meeting them in an area of desert near Al Manama Road on June 16, 2011.

When he arrived they smashed a concrete block on to his head, knocking him to the floor. They then took an iron bar and beat him repeatedly on the head.

He sustained multiple skull fractures and brain damage before dying from his injuries, a postmortem found. He had also suffered injuries to his neck, back and chest.

The pair stole his mobile phone, wallet and a pack of cigarettes before leaving his corpse in the sand to decay.

Police found the dead body a few days later next to the murder weapon.

At the pair’s trial, police captain E S said that when they were arrested they claimed they had met their colleague by coincidence and that a third man had been with them. They claimed an argument broke out between the third man and their colleague.

They said the third man hit their colleague with the concrete block and killed him, but they admitted robbing the corpse.

“It was a fight and we did not mean to kill him,” the pair testified at the Dubai Criminal Court during their original trial two years ago.

However, the third man was cleared of involvement in the murder.

The dead man’s brother told prosecutors that his brother had lent Dh3,500 to the pair two months before his death. He said there had been arguments because the pair had not repaid the money.

“On the day of the incident, M G returned to the accommodations but my brother didn’t. When I asked him he denied even seeing my brother but he seemed very tense,” said the brother, S A, 23.

Prosecutors said that the two men had confessed to plotting the murder during interrogations. In court, however, they denied the charge but were convicted.

All death sentences must be approved by the emirate’s Ruler before they can be carried out.

The Cassation Court upheld the acquittal of the third man.