There is no excuse for murder. Even in the case of self-defence, you have to be able to prove to the jury beyond reasonable doubt that you were actually defending yourself. A Pakistani woman who failed to do this lost her appeal on Sunday after a court convicted her of killing her countryman whom she claimed constantly tried having carnal knowledge of her.
The 30-year-old Pakistani woman was said to have stabbed her compatriot, a businessman to death and stolen his two mobile phones following a financial dispute.
Since the interrogations started, the defendant repeatedly claimed that she was forced to defend her honour and stabbed the victim with a kitchen knife when he allegedly tried to rape her.
The Dubai Appeals Court rejected the woman’s appeal, and confirmed the primary judgement to commute her 15 years in jail.
Presiding judge Eisa Al Sharif also dismissed prosecutors’ appeal to increase the punishment to capital punishment.
“The accused will be deported after serving her punishment,” said judge Al Sharif
“I did not kill him intentionally. I was defending myself because he initiated the attack. He always harassed me,” the Pakistani woman said when she defended herself in court.
Dubai Police’s forensic examiner confirmed in his statement that the victim was stabbed 12 times in his abdomen.
According to the appellate judgement, the claimants under civil rights [the victim’s blood parents] lost their appeal because it was submitted after the 15-day deadline.
Prosecutors said the Pakistani woman and a fellow Pakistani, a man (who remains at large), had pre-planned the murder. They got a knife and lured the victim into a room that he had rented for the woman. Then they stabbed him repeatedly until he dropped dead before fleeing the country the same night.
Court records said the woman was arrested at Dubai International Airport when she returned to the country last year.
According to her prosecution statement, the convict met the deceased two years prior to the incident.
“He repeatedly said he liked me and constantly offered me money to sleep with him. He lent me money to open a salon. I signed two cheques as guarantee.. When I failed to pay him back he complained to the police. Later I.J. dropped the cases against me after I agreed to have sex with him. He rented a room for me in a villa in Al Rashidiya… I refused his s*xual advances. He molested me and tore my chemise… we scuffled and I stabbed him,” claimed the accused.
The Pakistani woman still has another chance at challenging Sunday’s (today’s) judgement which is subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 30 days.
