A gardener in Dubai has been charged with premeditated murder for allegedly strangling his elder employer to death with a bed sheet, Gulf News reported.
The Pakistani employee, 29, was said to have murdered the elderly due to abuse and salary cuts done by the victim’s family. Official records stated that in June, the victim’s wife went out and left him alone with the defendant. After she returned two hours later, she saw her husband dead on the ground. The defendant told her he fell to his death by accident.
“I thought he had fallen again as he was sick and suffered from diabetes. I asked him to call the ambulance and called the victim’s sons. My husband had a surgery in his eyes and can’t hear well,” she said.
When the paramedics arrived, they noticed a fabric around the victim’s neck, leading them and the family to suspect the defendant. When they called the police, the gardener already escaped.
Authorities arrested the defendant the next day, who admitted to killing the victim due to abuse and non-payment of full salary.
According to the gardener, the son of the victim asked him to care for his father for a payment of AED2,000. However, the victim only paid him AED800 for two months, then reduced it further to AED600. He also claimed that the victim abused him by beating him with a stick and insulting him all the time.
“The defendant admitted that he pushed the victim and knocked him on the ground before sitting on his chest and used a bed sheet to strangle him to death. He then sat beside the body for an hour,” added the police.
Dubai Public Prosecution has asked the court to punish the defendant with death sentence. The trial is due later next month.
