An Indian man in the United Arab Emirates was sentenced to death on Tuesday for sexually assaulting and killing a woman who worked with him. The man, who was identified as AS, 25, confessed to the assault and killing of the young woman who worked as an assistant for the same family the man worked for. Her body was found in a parking lot on June 14, 2009. AS was identified by local papers as a sailor. AS offered the victim a ride to a medical check up and in the car he touched her and she allegedly consented. When the victim started bleeding, the man panicked and asked her not to tell, but she allegedly refused. He then strangled her with her head scarf and drove to a car park where he dumped her body. According to local reports, the man first denied the accusations in a criminal court in Dubai, in January 2010, however prosecutors said he confessed to the crime when he was interrogated by Emirati investigators after the woman had been missing for 10 days. The UAE is not known for handing out the death sentence quite often, but murder, drug offenses, rape, treason, aggravated robbery and terrorism are all crimes that are punishable by death. BM
