DUBAI // A policeman shot and killed a fellow officer for allegedly raping him, a court heard on Monday.
The defendant, a 26-year-old Yemeni patrol sergeant, confessed to murder at the Dubai Criminal Court. He said he shot his compatriot because of the sexual assault.
The defendant was due to start his shift on November 8 last year when he went to get his gun, bullets and handcuffs from the deceased, an armoury officer at Al Raffa Police Station.
Prosecutors said the defendant then pointed his gun at the 53-year-old victim and fired three times at his head, killing him instantly. The defendant later turned himself on to his superior. One witness, a 51-year-old officer, said he saw the defendant stand behind the victim and heard the defendant say to the victim: “When you and that other man came to my residence, what did you do to me?”
The defendant then shot the armoury officer, the witness said. “I didn’t think it was serious, I thought they were joking,” said the Emirati, who then informed the officer in charge about the killing.
An ambulance arrived within minutes, but the victim was already dead.
The commander of the police station told the court that the defendant came to him shortly after the shooting. “He told me he was surrendering himself for killing his colleague so that legal action can be taken against him. He then handed me his weapon,” said the officer.
He said he asked the shooter why he shot his colleague. The defendant replied that the armoury officer and another man had sexually assaulted him 15 days before the shooting.
“He told me that the armoury officer had gagged him with a cloth with some chemical on it. It made him lose consciousness. When he woke up, he figured that he had been raped,” said the commander.
A medical examination concluded that the defendant was sane, aware and responsible for his actions. But it said he might have been suspicious of other people’s motives and behaviour after he was raped in 2008. The next hearing is on June 2.
salamir@thenational.ae