Death penalty for 'most stupid' Indian in UAE

An Indian national, who bludgeoned his neighbour's maid to death in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has been sentenced to death by a court.

The man killed the maid, with whom he had a relationship after she told him that she was pregnant and threatened to slap a rape charge on him, The National reported Thursday.

He believed her claim despite the fact that they had never had sex.

The defence lawyer described him as "the most stupid man I have seen in 40 years".

The man, who worked as a cook for an Emirati government official, lived in a villa near the place the maid stayed.

They met as they were depositing rubbish outside the house.

A few days later as the cook was working on the roof the maid, whose nationality was not mentioned, signalled him to come over to the house of her employer, who was away on holiday at the time.

The defence lawyer said his client went there and they had some "romantic time on the roof which did not exceed hugging".

A week later, when he visited her again, she told him he had made her pregnant and threatened to slap a rape charge on him.

Following the threat, he hit her on the head three times with a stone which was lying outside the woman's employer's house, killing her.

He placed her body in a bathtub filled with water and set the villa on fire to get rid of the evidence.

The villa was reduced to ashes but the body in the bathtub was unharmed because it was filled with water.

The convict was arrested after he asked his employer to help him flee the country.

But his employer reported him and offered to pay the defence expenses.

The defence lawyer argued that his client could not be charged with premeditated murder because it was not a premeditated crime.

The case had been on hold since 2010 because the court could not trace the maid's family. And though the family of the maid has not yet been found, the judge decreed the death penalty.