Father who beat son to death has jail sentence reduced

The Nigerian, who was not the 12-year-old's biological father, beat him because he was not doing his homework.

DUBAI // A man who was convicted of beating his 12-year-old son to death because he was not doing his homework has won a reduced jail term on appeal.

The Nigerian, 37, was sentenced to 10 years in jail by Dubai Criminal Court in February but on Wednesday his term was reduced to three years at Dubai Court of Appeal.

The body of his son arrived at Zulekha Hospital in Al Qusais on April 19 last year.

Police were called after an examination of the boy led to suspicions that he may have been beaten, and a post-mortem showed he died as a result of internal bleeding.

An Emirati police lieutenant told prosecutors that when he arrived at the hospital he saw the boy’s father in a state of hysteria.

“I asked him what happened and he told me he gave the boy milk, after which he started vomiting and complaining from pains in the stomach and, when his condition worsened, he brought him to hospital,” said the 27-year-old officer.

A coroner’s report stated that his death was caused by internal bleeding as a result of a blow to the abdomen.

A 52-year-old Pakistani woman who worked as the boy’s private tutor told the criminal court that she had noticed bruises on his face and body.

“At first he told me he fell off the table. He then confessed he had been beaten by his father,” said the tutor.

A security guard at the building where the family lived testified that the father often took his son to the swimming pool when it was quiet and would beat him.

“On Thursday, April 16, I saw him holding his son’s head and pushing it underwater as if he was trying to drown him. When I asked what he was doing, he said he was just teaching him to swim,” said the 37-year-old Indian, who added that the father pushed his son’s head under for nearly 15 minutes, as the boy begged and cried.

The coroner said a post-mortem showed the boy suffered from damage to his intestines and bleeding in the abdomen.

“He should have been referred to hospital earlier, which may have saved his life but also may not have due to the severity of his injuries,” said the 35-year-old coroner.

He said other bruises on the boy’s body were caused by kicking, beating and punching. He added that the boy also suffered fractured ribs caused by someone sitting or standing on his chest.

Police said the boy had been searching online for help to treat his stomach pains. A sentence reading “help, I got hit on my stomach” was found on his iPad.

It was revealed after a DNA test that the defendant was not the boy’s biological father.

The man underwent a psychiatric evaluation that ruled he was aware of his actions.

In court last October, he denied a charge of premeditated murder.

He will be deported after serving his three-year term.