Dubai: Man Handed Life Sentence for Murdering Girlfriend, Concealing Body in Suitcase

In the Dubai Criminal Court, an Asian individual has been sentenced to life imprisonment, followed by deportation, for the murder of his girlfriend in his apartment amid a dispute between them.

The perpetrator concealed the deceased girlfriend's body in a large suitcase and attempted to dispose of it in a waste container for the building where he resided, after spending a day with her remains under a bed in his bedroom. The Court of Appeal has upheld this ruling.

The incident, occurring in International City, traces back to January 2022, when a building guard alerted the police upon discovering a body inside a suitcase near the building’s waste container. Upon opening the suitcase, a portion of a human foot protruded, initially mistaken for a doll by the guard. Upon closer inspection, he discovered the body of a woman and promptly notified the authorities.

During interrogation, the guard revealed his ability to identify the victim, a woman who frequented the same building where he worked, particularly one of the apartments occupied by a young Asian man.

A police officer disclosed that a team of investigators entered the suspect’s apartment and gathered evidence from the crime scene. Although traces of the murder were found inside the room, the suspect was absent from the premises. Subsequently, a search warrant was issued, leading to his arrest in a nearby hotel in the Jebel Ali area.

Upon questioning, the defendant confessed to a prior friendship with the victim, revealing that he had killed her during a dispute on the day of the crime. Their relationship had originated from a chance meeting at a nightclub, progressing into a close friendship and romantic involvement.

Plans were made to formalise their relationship, but a disagreement ensued, escalating into a verbal altercation on the day of the incident. The defendant cited the termination of their relationship by the victim as the catalyst for the dispute, expressing his refusal to let her go and his attempts to reconcile. When she attempted to leave the apartment, the altercation turned physical, resulting in her demise by strangulation.

Afterwards, he disposed of her belongings and mobile phone in a waste container near a hotel where he had previously stayed, with the assistance of three friends. These accomplices were also convicted and sentenced to imprisonment, followed by deportation, for their complicity in concealing the crime from authorities despite their awareness of it.

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