Man murdered wife in Dubai villa over affair, court told

DUBAI// A 32-year-old man slashed his wife’s leg with a knife, slapped and then strangled her because she said she was cheating on him, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.

The woman’s body was found in an outer room of a villa in The Springs community on June 4. “The tenants of the villa told us that the victim used to work for them as a part time maid,” testified policeman AH, 27. Sri Lankan SS denies the premeditated murder of his wife SH on June 3 this year. Emirati policeman MA, 36, said the room where the body was found was used as a store and had no furniture. “The body was lying face down on the floor where the foot prints of someone were found in the blood which was all over the floor and walls, the knife was also found in the corner of room,” said MA.

“She had multiple cuts in her face, neck, abdomen, hand, arm and thigh, she also had several scratches on her neck and jaw and other parts of her body,” said the head of criminal forensic medicine department, FO, in his testimony.

The victim’s cousin, KR, 35, who works as a maid in the same area, said that on the day of the murder the victim called her and told her she had fought with her husband. “She told me he had screamed at her but I didn’t know why. I called her later in the afternoon but she never answered,” she said.

KR said she looked for her cousin in the villa’s storeroom because she knew she was allowed to keep some of her belongings there. “I found the door slightly open and I saw legs on the floor, I felt terrified and called my aunt who arrived and saw the body and then called police,” she said.

The defendant told prosecutors that he killed his wife because she had been having several affairs since they were married in 2007.

“I called her that day and her phone was busy, I went to the villa where she worked and she was still on the phone, I asked her who she was talking to, she said she was talking to her lover because she wanted to spend the night with him, so I got furious.

“I slapped her, she tried to strangle me so I picked up a knife that was near and slashed her leg, then when she fell she tried to pull the knife out of my hands but I sat on her chest and strangled her,” said the defendant in his confession to police.

The next hearing will be on December 7.