Acquittal upheld for man accused of killing compatriot over prostitute

Appeal Court upholds acquittal of man accused of burning his compatriot to death in a jealous rage over a prostitute.

DUBAI // The Appeal Court has upheld the acquittal of a man accused of burning a compatriot to death in a row over a prostitute.

MM, 26, was accused of dousing the Pakistani driver JN with petrol and setting him alight after the driver left the brothel in Hor Al Anz in the early hours of February 5, 2010.

Prosecutors claimed he was motivated by jealousy because the driver spent several hours with a prostitute he was fond of.

The man admitted visiting the prostitute every Friday, but said he was in Sharjah on the evening the driver was killed.

He said that burn marks found on his own feet were caused when someone dropped hot oil on them and that he had the injury treated at a Sharjah hospital.

The criminal court acquitted him in July and prosecutors appealed the verdict.