Rapist, killer of 11-year-old Pakistani boy in Abu Dhabi gets death sentence

Khaleej Times -- The Pakistani man accused of strangling an 11-year-old boy to death after raping him at the rooftop of their Abu Dhabi building has been sentenced to death.

The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance on Monday morning handed out the execution sentence to the 33-year-old man after he was found guilty of murder, rape and a number of other charges.

The court has also ordered the killer to pay Dh200,000 in compensation to the child's family for what they have gone through for the loss of their child.

The Pakistani boy, identified as Azan Majid, was found missing on June 1, 2017, after he went to a nearby mosque to pray. His body was found the next day at the rooftop of the building on the Muroor Road where he was staying with his father and stepmother.

Court records stated that the boy was sexually abused and strangled to death with a rope by the Pakistani national, who is also related to the child.

Police revealed that the man cross-dressed to carry out the attacks on the child, after luring the boy into going with him to the rooftop of the building.

The Abu Dhabi Public Prosecution charged the Pakistani with premeditated murder, raping the child, cross-dressing and driving a car without a number plate.

The man had denied all charges against him throughout his hearing. He told the judge that his confession at Police and Public Prosecution was all under duress.

Prosecutors had demanded that the Pakistani be given the death penalty if convicted because he committed grave sins that affected not only the child's family but also the community.

The boy's Pakistani father said after the ruling that he was happy justice has been served.

He also demanded that the killer be executed in the public so other people learn that it's bad killing an innocent person.

The parents had in the previous hearings told court that they won't pardon the killer in return for anything but rather, they want the man to be executed.

"We are asking for a death penalty if he's found guilty of murder," the parents told the judge.

"We want him to be executed for what he did to our son, nothing else. We won't accept blood money from the killer."

The death sentence can be appealed within 14 days after the issuance of the ruling.