DUBAI // A husband strangled his wife to death because she was leaving him for another man, a court heard yesterday.
“I didn’t mean to kill her, we were fighting because she was cheating on me and was going to leave and I didn’t want her to,” SN, 33, from India, told the Criminal Court after denying a charge of attempted murder.
“I knew she was leaving because she was having an affair with another man,” he added.
Prosecutors said that on August 7 this year the man, while drunk, threw his wife Papita Rama onto her marital bed and strangled her to death. He continued to strangle her long after she had died then went to Bur Dubai Police Station and reported what he had done.
“He came around 3am and he was drunk. He said he had a fight with his wife because he suspected she had an affair and he had a heated argument during which she insulted him, then he lost his control and strangled her,” recalled policeman WA, 23.
A police patrol attended the man’s one-bedroom flat in Al Jafilia and found the woman’s corpse on her bed and her suitcase next to her.
“The husband said during investigations that he was home alone drinking alcohol when she returned from work at around 7.30pm. He confronted her about his suspicions and she decided to leave the house,” continued the policeman.
When the husband tried to stop his wife from leaving, she insulted him. He then flew into a rage, threw her on the bed, sat on top of her and strangled her.
“He said he kept on strangling her for about half an hour,” said the policeman.
The husband confessed to a charge of consuming alcohol illegally.
According to court records, a forensic examination found evidence the wife had had sex with a man other than her husband.
The next hearing was scheduled for December 5 to appoint a defence lawyer.
salamir@thenational.ae
