Death sentence upheld for boy's murder

The Dubai Court of Cassation yesterday upheld the death sentence issued against RR, 30, Emirati, who raped and killed four-year-old Pakistani boy MM in the toilet of a Dubai mosque on the first day of the last Eid Al Adha.

RR was sentenced to death by the Criminal Court, and the Court of Appeal upheld the verdict last month. The defendant's last chance is a pardon by the Dubai Ruler, which is unlikely given the hideousness of the crime. RR was under the influence of alcohol when the crime happened.

Dubai Public Prosecution had referred the defendant to court for the deliberate killing of the boy and taking alcohol in circumstances not allowed by law. According to procedures, the Public Prosecution will send a memo to the Ruler for endorsement of the death sentence.

Earlier, RR's lawyer Abdullah Al Madhrab had urged the court to reduce his client's death sentence to life imprisonment.

The original trial was the shortest to result in a death sentence in the history of Dubai Courts as it was passed after just four weeks, during which four hearings were held. The last death sentence was carried out in Dubai in 2003. The Court of First Instance, which pronounced the death penalty on RR for assaulting and killing the child, also sentenced him to six months in jail for consuming liquor.

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