Victim’s family pardons murderer

SHARJAH // One of two Kuwaiti students sentenced to death for torturing and murdering their roommate has been pardoned by the family of the deceased.

The pardoned student, Y S, 20, and compatriot H A, 19, last year tortured their countryman Mubarak Meshaal Al Mubarak, 19, a first-year student at the University of Sharjah, over financial disputes.

Al Mubarak died in hospital on February 25 last year after suffering internal bleeding, burns and multiple fractures sustained during three days of torture.

Y S and H A were sentenced to death by Sharjah Criminal Court on November 4 after being found guilty of premeditated murder, torture and depriving the victim’s freedom. A third man, who fled the UAE, was fined Dh1,000 in absentia for covering up a crime and failing to report it to the authorities.

Y S and H A admitted to investigators that they tortured Al Mubarak, who was sharing an apartment with one of them, and claimed that they did it over a financial dispute. They also claimed that the victim was harassing one of the killers’ female relatives.

Police found a six-minute video recording on one of the student’s mobiles that showed the victim being physically abused and tortured.

A witness told prosecutors during a previous court hearing that Al Mubarak collapsed in front of his restaurant before being taken to the University Hospital Sharjah by one of his friends.

The victim’s family attended the hearings and requested that the presiding judge hand the pair the death penalty after they refused a blood money offer from one of the killer’s families.

Prosecutors have tried to extradite the third man, who is believed to be in Kuwait.