Couple appeal verdict over torturing man’s second wife to death

The woman died because of excessive beatings and torture. She also suffered from malnutrition due to lack of food.”

Prosecutor

abu dhabi — A husband and wife in Abu Dhabi, who were convicted of torturing the man’s second wife to death, have appealed their life in prison sentences and asked the court to “be lenient” when pronouncing its verdict.

At the Abu Dhabi Court of Appeals, the couple denied killing the woman intentionally. The man said he loved her and that he just beat her “lightly to discipline her” and not to hurt or kill her.

Court documents stated that the Emirati man had repeatedly beaten up the woman with a solid object, which caused her death. He is also accused of depriving her of food for many days and also burning her body. His first wife is accused of helping him commit the murder.

Prosecutors said the couple also “systematically” tortured the victim’s two children — a boy and a girl. The girl suffered a 40 per cent disability as a result of the abuse. The wife had confessed to torturing the two children.

The police earlier told the court they had found the defendant’s second wife dead during a raid on the man’s property in Baniyas in Abu Dhabi in 2014

following a tip-off from residents. The couple had locked the woman in the house with her children against her will, the court heard.

“The woman died because of excessive beatings and torture. She also suffered from malnutrition due to lack of food,” said prosecutors.

The husband had confessed to prosecutors that he had kicked and beat the victim with his hands and a cane during their six-year marriage. Prosecutors had charged the pair with premeditated murder of the woman, depriving her of her freedom and torturing her children.

The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance had earlier handed down the life in prison sentences to the Emirati husband and his first wife after they were found guilty of the charges.

The judge had also ordered the couple to pay a blood money of Dh200,000 to the woman’s family, including her two kids. The wife was also told to pay another Dh80,000 in damages for torturing the victim’s kids.