DUBAI // Two men sentenced to death in February for murder are accused of killing a Russian woman and dumping her body in a remote area off the Dubai to Al Ain road.
RS, 20, from Pakistan, and Indian AA, 23, are charged with the premeditated murder of K in March 2010.
The pair were found guilty of the murder of AA’s wife and police investigations revealed they may have also killed the Russian woman three years earlier.
AA was not present in court, as it is believed he has fled the country.
Prosecutors said a friend of AA had testified that in 2010, as he was with the defendant and other friends, AA told him he had killed a woman, with whom he was having a relationship at the time, because he discovered she was having sex with other men.
“He told me that he did something awful and he regrets doing it, but I didn’t believe him and though he was joking because he often told lies,” testified Indian AZ, 26.
The witness said AA told him he had been in a relationship with K but then discovered she had been with other men so he got angry and killed her.
The witness added that RS confirmed the murder had happened and AA was not joking.
It is believed the circumstances in which K was killed were similar to the later killing of AA’s wife.
The pair took it in turns to strangle the man’s wife, put her body in a large rubbish bag and dumped the body in a sandy area on the Dubai to Al Ain road on March 11, 2013.
A municipality cleaner found the bag and called police.
“I saw the bag 15 metres away from where I was cleaning and when I came closer to it, I saw a human’s head and immediately called the police,” said Bangladeshi AF, 37.
A Dubai police lieutenant said further investigations lead to the arrest of the husband’s Pakistani friend who took part in the murder.
It is believed AA fled the country that same day.
“[RS] said in his confession that the husband lured him into helping him and told him that he wanted to divorce her but then he would have to give her a monthly alimony which he can’t afford,” said the police officer.
“He told me that when he went to the couple’s house, he found his friend acting weird before telling him he killed his wife, then the Pakistani walked into the bedroom to find the woman is still alive, he added that he sat on top of her and strangled her until she died,” he said.
The victim had voiced concerns about her husband to her father-in-law.
“She told me that she often warned him about his friend and asked him to stay away from him but he wouldn’t listen,” said QA, 55.
The father-in-law recalled in his testimony that she called him on one occasion and said that her husband came home drunk and assaulted her because she asked him to look for a job.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if my son and his Pakistani friend did it and killed her,” said QA, adding that the woman had told him that his son was having an affair which made the problems between them worse. Police started investigating to identify the dead woman. Once they did, they started looking for her husband but discovered he had left the country on the same day of the murder.
The case was adjourned until December 23.
salamir@thenational.ae