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'Mum-killer' refuses to appear for trial

Dubai - The defendant had allegedly lived with the corpse for days after murdering his mother, believing she practised witchcraft .

An Emirati, who allegedly murdered his mother believing she practised witchcraft, has "refused" to appear before the Sharjah Shariah Court of First Instance in a hearing on Sunday. The defendant had allegedly lived with the corpse for days before he was arrested.
The 29-year-old defendant's lawyer, Hani Al Jasmi, who was appointed by the Ministry of Justice, asked to be taken off the case, citing "delays in the investigation" as the reason.
In the hearing presided by Dr Yaqoub Al Hamadi, the lawyer claimed three court hearings had to be adjourned so as to refer the defendant for a psychiatric evaluation, which is yet to be done. He also claimed the Sharjah Public Prosecution did not investigate the case properly and only interrogated eyewitnesses. He said the case files did not include testimonies from the defendant's family members so as to understand his social and family background.
When the judge asked the policeman in charge of bringing under trials to the court as to why the defendant was not brought, the policeman said the defendant refused to.
In the first hearing of the case, the defendant was calm and composed, and coolly admitted before the court to slitting his mother's throat twice.
The police found the body in the defendant's flat in Al Nakhla Tower in Al Mamzar area on June 7 last year.
On the day, the police received a call from the owner of a supermarket in the area, who said the defendant went to the shop and stole items at knife point. The police arrested the defendant and escorted him to his flat so that he could fetch money to pay for the items.
Outside his flat, the police got a bad smell. On searching the flat, the police discovered the partially decomposed body.
The defendant said his aunt had called him from Lebanon, informing him that his mother was practising witchcraft. He claimed to have found some papers that "proved" she was practising it.
He said he kept his hand over his mother's mouth as she slept and slit her throat. He told the police he was fully aware of what he did and had no regrets.
amira@khaleejtimes.com