Dubai: Man gets death penalty for Arabian Ranches double murder

A construction worker who stabbed an Indian couple to death in their bed was handed the death penalty by the Dubai Criminal Court on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old Pakistani defendant hid outside the villa of the Indian couple, Hiren Adhiya 48, and Vidhi Adhiya, 40, at Arabian Ranches for six hours before sneaking in through an unlocked patio door on the night of June 17, 2020.

He had planned to steal money and jewellery he saw while carrying out maintenance work in the villa in December 2019.

After the lights went off, he sneaked into the house in Mirador district of Arabian Ranches and stole Dh1,965 from a wallet on the ground floor. He then went upstairs in search of more.

When Adhiya woke up to the sound of his bedside drawer opening, the defendant stabbed him to death before turning to his wife.

Forensic reports revealed Adhiya was stabbed ten times in the head, chest, abdomen, and left shoulder.

His wife was stabbed 14 times in her head, neck, chest, face, ear, and right arm.

The stabs were powerful enough to penetrate their blanket.

As the assailant rushed outside the bedroom, he met the couple’s daughter, who was 18 at the time, and stabbed her in the neck, causing her serious injuries.

The girl and her younger sister, 15, saw the horrifying crime scene before the wounded daughter called the police and one of her father's friends.

Investigators found a bloody handprint on the villa's wall and a mask on the victims’ bed with blood samples matching the accused's DNA. They also recovered the knife around 500 metres away from the villa.

After a manhunt was launched, the attacker was arrested a few days later in Sharjah.

During questioning, the man confessed to charges of the premeditated murder of the couple, attempted murder of their daughter and theft.

He said three days before the murder, his mother in Pakistan had fallen ill and he was desperate for money.

However, when he appeared in court in November 2020, he changed his plea and denied all charges.

In her testimony in February last year, the daughter told the court that at around 1:30am on the day of the murder, she used her mobile flashlight to check on the commotion upstairs after she heard some cries for help coming from her parent's bedroom.

“I met him at the room’s door and he stabbed me, but I kicked him before he fled,” she had told judges.

sherouk@khaleejtimes.com