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28 March 2024

Obaida Murder: Killer invited boy's dad for coffee after attack

Published
By Eman Al Baik

The defence lawyer representing NI, the man accused of raping and murdering eight-year-old Jordanian Obaida Al Aqrabawi, has asked the Court to be excused from defending his client.
 
He submitted a document supporting his request and the court scheduled the case to be heard on July 18, where it will appoint another lawyer.
 
In testimony heard so far, the victim was last seen on May 20 outside his father’s garage in the industrial area in Sharjah, when the accused came to the garage.
 
The father told the jury that a week before the incident the accused asked him if he could take Obaida to accompany his (the defendant’s) nephews and nieces to the sea on a day out.
 
“Because I do not know the accused well, I refused that,” said Obaida’s father Ibrahim.
 
“After about a week, the accused came to my garage to repair his car. I noticed Obaida sitting in his car and holding a smartphone watching cartoons.
“I asked him to get out of the car. Again at around 5pm, I saw him in the car and asked him to go home.
 
“At around 9pm, I went back home, and as I did not see Obaida and asked my wife about him. As she told me that he did not come home, we started searching for him,” said the father.
 
Ibrahim then headed to the defendant’s flat.
 
“We knocked at the door and as he refused to open the door, I threatened calling police. He opened the door and we searched in the flat but did not find Obaida. I noticed a strange woman whom he claimed was his girlfriend.”
 
The accused denied taking Obaida anywhere, invited the father for coffee, and offered to search for the boy. “We refused that and got out of his flat,” said the father.
 
The father told the court that all he wants is the death penalty for the accused.
 
On May 22, a Dubai Municipality worker found the boy’s body under a tree on the Academic City road in Al Warqa area.
 
“I was about 15 feet away from the boy who looked as if he was sleeping. I informed my senior and the police were informed,” testified the worker.
 
Police found out that the boy had been strangled and sexually assaulted.
 
The accused NI, 48, who is also Jordanian, admitted to rape and murder, but denied kidnapping in a previous hearing.
 
He claimed that he was completely drunk when he committed the crime.
 
He told investigators that he started drinking before picking up the boy and after raping and suffocating him; he consumed finished five bottles of alcohol, according to the records.
 
“I was completely drunk… I did not plan to rape and murder. I knew that one day alcohol will put me in a big trouble,” said the jobless defendant before prosecutors.
 
The defendant had also refused to attend the previous hearings, but the court ordered he be brought in even by force, if necessary.