23 April 2014 :

a man has been sentenced to death for murder by a criminal court in UAE. The killer, who worked as a cook for an Emirati government official, lived in a villa near the maid. They met as they were depositing rubbish outside in dustbins. A few days later, as the cook was working on the roof, the maid saw him and signalled him to come over to her employer’s house, who was away on holiday at the time. He went and they had some “romantic time on the roof which did not exceed hugging”, the defence lawyer said. A week later he visited her again and she told him he had made her pregnant. She also threatened that she would accuse him of rape. The cook, who was described by his lawyer as the “most stupid murderer” he has seen in 40 years, believed her. He spotted a large stone outside the bathroom door and hit her over the head with it three times, killing her. He placed her body in a bathtub filled with water, then set the villa alight to hide the evidence. The villa was reduced to ashes, but the bathtub survived because it was filled with water.
The defendant was arrested after he went to his employer asking him to help him flee the country. But his employer reported him, and offered to pay defence expenses and blood money. The cook’s lawyer had previously argued that his client could not be charged with premeditated murder because he did not plan the crime. The case had been on hold since 2010 because the court could not track down the maid’s family. The judge issued the death penalty, although it was not recorded as the family had not yet been found.