DUBAI // The father of an eight-year-old boy found dead in Dubai has told a court about his family’s search for his son.
Obaida Al Aqrabawi went missing from his Sharjah home two days before his body was found dumped by a motorway in Dubai on May 22. He had been strangled and there were signs of sexual assault.
The child’s father, Ibrahim, told judges on Monday that a week before the incident the defendant, a 48-year-old Jordanian, asked him if he could take Obaida with his own nephews and nieces to the beach.
“I refused because I didn’t know him that well,” said Mr Al Aqrabawi, also a Jordanian.
He said that on the day his son went missing, he saw Obaida in the defendant’s car holding a smartphone and watching a cartoon, so he asked him to get out.
Mr Al Aqrabawi saw Obaida in the car again about 5pm and asked him to go home.
Hours later, when the father returned about 9pm, his wife told him their son had not come home.
“We started looking everywhere and we went to his [the defendant’s] apartment. He refused to open the door so I threatened to call the police. Then he opened up,” said Mr Al Aqrabawi.
“We searched the apartment and there was a strange woman who he said was his girlfriend.”
Mr Al Aqrabawi said the suspect denied taking Obaida but then invited him for coffee, and said he could help to look for Obaida afterwards.
“We refused and headed out. All I want is Al Qasas,” he told judges, referring to the death penalty.
A Dubai Municipality worker, who discovered Obaida’s body, and the boy’s uncle also testified in court on Monday.
“About 15 feet away from where I was standing I saw the child on his back under a tree,” the worker said. “He looked as if he was sleeping.”
The defence lawyer, who had been appointed by the court, formally asked to be excused from the case.
The court decided to reschedule the hearing to next Monday to appoint another lawyer and to hear the testimonies of four other witnesses.
The defendant is charged with kidnapping a child, rape and premeditated murder, threats and physical abuse, drinking alcohol without a licence and driving under the influence of alcohol.
He has previously admitted to rape and murder but denied kidnapping the boy.
salamir@thenational.ae
