‘Jealousy over prostitute led to murder’

DUBAI // A driver was burnt to death by another man because he was jealous that he had spent time with a prostitute, a court heard yesterday.

M M, 26, appeared at the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance yesterday, charged with burning alive the Pakistani driver J N on February 5, 2010. Prosecutors say he doused J N with petrol and set him alight.

M M’s motive, prosecutors told the court, was jealousy over a prostitute with whom J N had been having sex.

Investigations led police to M M, who was found with burns on his legs. Burnt shoes that police say belong to M M were found at the scene. Records show that on the evening of February 4, 2010, J N and his friend M I went to a brothel in the Hor al Anz district of Dubai. J N ended up with H M, a prostitute, while his friend waited in the car. After several hours, M I called J N and told him they had to return to Abu Dhabi, records show.

“After I spoke with him, I waited and then heard a knock on my window and saw J N on fire asking me to help him,” he said. M M told prosecutors that he was involved with H M, visiting her every Friday for sex. But he denied being at the brothel that night and said he was in Sharjah. When asked about the burns, M M said someone dropped hot oil on his feet, and he had the injuries treated at a Sharjah hospital. The court adjourned the hearing to February 6 to present prosecution witnesses.