Husband accused of wife’s murder: ‘I did not kill her – she stabbed herself’

A husband stabbed his wife to death in front of their daughter after she accused him of being unfaithful, then dumped her body in the desert, a court was told.

Prosecutors claimed the defendant fled from Dubai to Pakistan after the attack, where he confessed to the murder.

They said the defendant stabbed the woman, also Pakistani, in January 2010, in the presence of their four-year-old child, then covered his victim with a bed sheet and drove her to the RAK desert, where he dumped her.

The woman’s body was found a month later. But when he appeared at Dubai Court of First Instance yesterday, the 40-year-old denied murder and said his wife had stabbed herself.

The defendant told the judge: “I’m innocent. I didn’t kill her. She was the one who stabbed herself. I was scared and dumped her.”

His brother testified that when the defendant arrived in Pakistan he confessed to the murder. The brother said: “He told me that he killed his wife under the influence of alcohol. They always had problems and were fighting.”

A neighbour of the family claimed that around the time of the incident the man asked him to look after his child so he could go to Pakistan. The neighbour said: “He was calling us to check on his daughter. He claimed his wife ran away and he had no money.”

Dubai Police said the defendant did not have a legal marriage document so he couldn’t get a passport for his daughter. Records did not state how long the defendant stayed in Pakistan, when and why he returned to Dubai, when he was arrested or what happened to the girl. The defendant told police during investigation: “My wife came back to the house after midnight and she was drunk. She accused me of cheating on her with other women and I denied it.

“She brought a knife and tried to stab our daughter. I pushed her away and she stabbed herself in the stomach. I didn’t know what to do. So I brought a plastic bag and dumped her.”

The judge adjourned the case to next month for the defendant to seek a lawyer. He remains in custody.

ali.shouk@7days.ae