Court hears case of Lankan maid’s murder

Wednesday, November 29, 2006


DOHA • The Criminal Court yesterday held its first hearing in the case of a Sri Lankan housemaid who was allegedly beaten to death by her sponsor's wife, a Qatari national.

The accused has been charged with assault leading to death. The 24-year-old-maid arrived here in April 2005 and the assault took place in November the same year. She succumbed to her injuries after two days in hospital. Sources said it was "unclear" on whether a weapon had been used or not.

The death certificate issued by the hospital said that she had injuries to her head and heart. A Sri Lankan embassy official attended yesterday's hearing while an Indonesian witness failed to turn up for the hearing.

The trial continues on January 18.

In another case, an Indian in his late 20s and an Indonesian woman in her early 20s were in the court of Judge Abdul Atti Assad. They have both been charged with adultery while the man also had a trespassing charge tacked on.

The man had been earlier released on bail. The case took an interesting twist yesterday when the woman's sponsor, an official with the Ministry of Interior, said the court should release her and he would stand guarantee as well as ensure that she would brought to court for any future hearings. The court agreed to this unusual arrangement.

A lawyer has been assigned to both and the case continues.

In another case of adultery and trespassing, an Indian in his late 20s and an Indonesian woman in her early 20s were presented in front of Judge Assad. Both denied the charges.

The woman was caught after she went to the Women's Hospital here after aborting her child and suffering from complications. The hospital immediately contacted the police who then interrogated her. She then admitted to having physical relations with the Indian man and gave the police his mobile phone number.

A Palestinian policeman from Al Sadd police station told the court: "We received a call from the Women's Hospital that a woman had suffered complication after an abortion. She admitted to having a relationship and gave us the man's mobile phone number."

H continued: "We used the number to trace him and he was placed under arrest. He told us that he was meeting her regularly in her sponsor's house."

A Yemeni policeman told the court that on questioning, the man admitted that he had physical relations with the woman in her sponsor's house.

In yet another adultery case, two Sri Lankans admitted to having a physical relationship to the police and the Public Prosecution. However, they did an about-face and denied the charge in court.

The woman's sponsor, a 65-year-old Qatari, told the court: "The woman has misbehaved like this before but we had forgiven her. However, one day we saw her opening a door and allowing a man to enter our house. They then went to her room and locked the door."

The elderly man said: "We gave them an hour then knocked on the door. But she refused to open it and only let us in when we threatened to break the door down. When we entered the room, we found the man hiding behind a washing machine."

The next hearing in the case will take place later in December.

Source:

The Peninsula