Court adjourns murder of roommate case

Manama : The Supreme Appeals Court began yesterday re-hearing the appeals of two Asian men accused of murdering a fellow countryman over a money dispute. 

The badly decomposed body of Bangladeshi national Haris Kanu Miah was found buried under Al Louzy housing project in Hamad Town on August 3, 2014. The body was discovered after a passer-by noticed a foul smell.

The 29-year-old labourer and a 26-year-old cleaner told prosecutors that Miah had been sharing a room with them for three months and owed them BD50.

Forensic report showed that the victim was tied up and gagged with a cloth and duct tape before being beaten to death.

Court files say that the defendants also stole the mobile phone and wallet of the victim before stuffing his body in a suitcase and burying it on June 14, 2014.

They duo were earlier sentenced to death, and an appeals court upheld it. But, the Cassation Court ordered a re-hearing in a different appeals court.  

A 35-year-old Indian pick-up driver told prosecutors earlier that he had given the convicts a lift on the day of the incident. “They stopped me in Manama and asked me to drop them in Demistan. I noticed they had a suitcase, which was tied with a yellow rope covered with duct tape and cloth,” he said in his statement to prosecutors.

The Supreme Appeals Court adjourned their case until November 8.