Picture used for illustrative purposes.

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Criminal Court sentenced an Arab national to death for premeditatedly killing his European girlfriend in her house after she had requested that their relationship end because she was having an affair with another man.

According to the official documents, the case dates back to July 2020 when the defendant, who was already determined to kill his ex-girlfriend for her desire to end their relationship, stalked her and as soon as he could, slit her throat.

A security guard stated in the interrogations that a building tenant told him that there was a fight on the seventh floor of the building, so he went there to find blood near the stairs.

He tried to open the door to the stairs to no avail, he said, adding that he tried to do so from another floor to find the victim lying on the floor and covered with blood.

He informed the police accordingly and called an ambulance, while the police began collecting evidence from the crime scene, he said.

A policeman stated that a team of detectives managed to gather inferences and identified and arrested the defendant near a shopping mall.

On interrogation, the defendant admitted that he and the victim had a love affair, which began in a restaurant in 2017, and they used to travel continuously together.

His relationship with the victim ended after he discovered from her social media account that she had struck up acquaintances with others and after she attempted to end their relationship, he said, adding that he refused to do so and insisted that they should continue to be together.

The victim left the country to get away from his constant threats to her and after two years, he learned from her social media account that she had returned to work in Dubai, he said.

He kept searching for her until he knew where she was working and tried to persuade her to be with him again, he said. She agreed and asked him to borrow her Dhs55,000 but he lent her only Dhs30,000, this being all that he had after his services were terminated due to his negligence while searching for her, he added.

The defendant stated that after he lent her the money, he discovered that she was involved with another person, adding that a verbal argument broke out between them and she said she wanted to break up with him again after she returned the money that she had borrowed from him.

Later, he kept searching for her place of residence to take revenge and when he knew where this was, he managed to get the key to her apartment and enter it. Surprised by seeing him inside her apartment, she tried to escape but in vain and he asked her to end her love affair with the other person and restore their relationship. 

He then left her and after several days, he came back again and tried to threaten her, so she informed the police and requested them to order him not to interfere with her again and at the police station, he pledged not to do so.

On the day of the incident, the defendant tried to call the victim but she did not respond and consequently he went to her place of residence where he threatened her again with a knife and other tools that he had bought in order to kill her. He found her in front of her apartment and when he tried to enter it, she refused to allow him in, so he pulled her out and killed her on the stairs of the building.

He went down the stairs to the sixth floor, took the elevator to go down to his car but returned to it and saw the victim covered with blood. He kissed her head and while trying to flee the place, he slipped and fell on his back due to the heavy blood.

In the meantime he was seen by a security guard and another woman, who informed the police accordingly, but he managed to get to his car and went to his friend’s house.

He changed his clothes and left for another emirate but was arrested while he was resting near a shopping mall on the way.

According to the court, the defendant premeditatedly killed the victim as evidenced by the fact that he prepared everything he needed to do so including a knife, a rope, a hammer, a zip tie self-locking handcuff, a stick and duct tape.

In implementation of his plan, he tracked her movements and kept monitoring her place of residence and time of her return.