Dubai: Indian faces death for compatriot murder

DUBAI: A 28-year-old Indian national has been sentenced to death by a court here for strangulating his compatriot to death and dumping his body in the garbage in a box.

According to the court records, the accused, identified only by his initials NS, had loaned the victim 8,500 dirhams (around USD 2300) to be paid in three instalments.

On May 22 last year, the two men met at the defendant's residence in Deira area in Dubai to discuss the debt.

A witness, KA, said the two started fighting after an argument broke out between them. The accused then picked up a rope and strangulated the victim, a media report said.

"He kept pulling the rope until the man's movement stopped," the witness said.

An Indian security guard, who was on duty at the building, said he saw a carton box near some garbage bins but did not pay much attention to it.

"When I saw the carton was still there the next morning I was curious so I opened it and found a dead body. I then called police," he said.

The police arrested the defendant and three other men after they found his finger prints from the spot.

The court heard that the footage taken from the hotel's surveillance camera showed the accused carrying the carton box along with the three other men.

A policeman testified that the three men who were arrested told him that they had been stopped by the accused who asked them to help carry a heavy box which he claimed contained utensils and glass items.

"One of them said he was offered 50 dirhams to help carry the box while another said he was given 25 dirhams," said the policeman.

The three were released after being questioned. The convict was arrested May 23, two days before he was due to fly back to India.

The verdict remains subject to appeal within 15 days.