Abu Dhabi, January 27: The Dubai Court of First Instance on Wednesday sentenced to death an Emirati man accused of raping and murdering a four-year-old boy in a mosque’s washroom on Eid Al Adha last year.
Chief Prosecutor Yousuf Foulaz had asked the three-member jury to hand down the toughest punishment applicable – the capital punishment, against the 30-year-old, R.R.R. The jury unanimously sentenced R.R.R. to capital punishment, plus six months in jail, Presiding Judge Fahmi Mounir said while pronouncing the verdict.
Click here to see a timeline of death sentences in the UAE
Minutes after the verdict, R.R.R. told Gulf News, through a third party source, that he was expecting the death sentence and that it was destined that he faces this from God.
After the verdict was pronounced, the Pakistani father of the four-year-old rape-murder victim burst into tears, along with his other son, five-year-old Mustafa.
The family had been sitting patiently on the fourth bench of the left row with tearful eyes, waiting for the verdict to be read out.
Earlier, Judge Mounir walked in to the packed courtroom soon after 9am along with his deputies; Judges Dr Ali Galadar and Mansour Al Awadhi, and announced that the court was in session.
As the session drew to an end, Judge Mounir asked the jail wardens to bring in R.R.R. to hand out the verdict. The jail guards brought in R.R.R., wearing a white prison dress, into the dock at around 10am. The verdict was pronounced at 10.07am.
The case attracted unprecedented and huge media and public interest since it happened last November. Psychiatric experts testified that although the suspect is a paedophile obsessed with boys, he is stable and sane.
The ruling is subject to appeal within 15 days.
Timeline
* January 27: Court unanimously finds R.R.R. guilty and hands out the capital punishment plus six months in jail
* January 13: Court is told psychiatric tests conclude that although defendant R.R. is mentally stable and sane he is a paedophile obsessed with young boys.
* January 3: R.R. is ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation as requested by the Defence.
* December 30: Court adjourns after hearing witnesses’ statements, including a tearful testimony by the boy’s father, who demanded the court hand out capital punishment.
* December 23: R.R. initially retracted his confession, only to admit committing the crime later. His lawyers refuse to defend him in court due to the nature of the crime, advocate Mohammad Al Sa’adi volunteers to take up the case. The prosecution asks the court to implement death sentence.
* December 1: Police arrest and charge Emirati suspect, R.R., 30, who confessed to the sexual assault and murder of the boy.
* November 27: Four-year-old Pakistani boy M.M. is found raped and murdered in the toilet of a mosque in Al Qusais.
—–Courtesy: Gulf News