Man to pay Dh200,000 blood money for murder, assault in UAE

The Sharjah Criminal Court sentenced a 43-year-old Sudanese man to 10 years in prison for murdering a 46-year-old compatriot and assaulting a 35-year-old Indian woman and her seven-year-old daughter by stabbing them multiple times in a lift of a building in Sharjah's Al Butaina area. He has also been ordered to pay Dh200,000 in blood money to the family of the deceased, identified as Naggi Shaikh Edriss.

According to the verdict, the man will serve seven years in jail for the murder and three years imprisonment for the assault. He will be deported after serving the entire prison term.

The incident dates back to January 16, 2019. On receiving information, a police team comprising the CID, forensic officers and patrol rushed to the crime scene where they found the woman and her daughter bleeding and the Sudanese man already dead. The police also found the killer wielding a knife. He later surrendered to the police.

During interrogation, the defendant confessed to murdering the Sudanese and stabbing the woman and her daughter. He claimed that he committed the crimes as he had been suffering from "psychological pressure due to family problems".

During previous hearings, the Indian woman, the victim of the assault, said that she was attacked by the accused while she was returning to her house with her daughter. She said the convict got into their elevator. When its door closed, he stabbed her daughter with a knife. While trying to save her daughter from the perpetrator, she also got stabbed by the man several times in the shoulder, back and hand, she said.

When the elevator reached the floor where she lives, the man prevented her from going out, and the lift went down to the ground floor. The deceased was waiting to go up and when the woman screamed for help, he tried to intervene to protect her and her daughter. He received a stab in his chest, which led to his immediate death, the woman said.

Fadwa, the deceased's wife, told Khaleej Times that her husband was a graduate from the University of Baroda, India, and was working as an accountant in a company in the Dubai free zone. "He could speak Hindi fluently and loved Indian people. He would not to hesitate to help anyone who sought his help, and was extremely gentle."

She said she was satisfied with the ruling of the court and that justice had been done.