Three Indian construction workers have been sentenced to death by firing squad after being convicted of murdering an 82 81-year-old Qatari woman in her home.

The verdict was handed down by a lower criminal court in Doha this week.

The crime apparently took place in 2011 2012, when the men broke into the woman’s home with the intention of robbing it. The victim lived alone in Al Salata next door a construction site where the defendants worked.

According to court officials, the woman used to interact with the men during Ramadan by inviting them over for meals, even though they were not Muslim and did not observe the fast.

What happened

Through visits to her home, the men came to understand the house’s layout. Around dawn one morning, the three defendants broke into the victim’s home.

The elderly woman, whose bedroom was on the ground floor of the villa, rang a bell for help to alert the female domestic worker who slept upstairs.

When the Qatari woman came out of her room, the men stabbed her to death, and also kicked her to ensure she was dead. Her domestic helper attempted to intervene, but was also stabbed. She managed to run to her room and lock herself in, and then call her sponsor’s family for help.

The family alerted the police, but by the time they arrived on the scene, the men had fled after stealing small items like a watch and a mobile phone. Valuables like jewelry remained locked in a safe.

The men were arrested three days later, with the help of identification by the female domestic worker. The defendants apparently confessed to the crime and told police where they had disposed of their weapons.

Officers retrieved the knives a knife from a body of water in Al Wakrah, the court heard.

Though the men were not convicted of premeditated murder, as their original intention was robbery, Qatar criminal law allows for the death sentence to be handed down to someone who takes part in more than one crime that leads to a murder.

The woman’s family asked the panel of judges, which included one female Qatari judge, for retribution. The trial began in January 2012 and concluded on Dec. 31, 2014.

The defendants, who are in their 20s aged 44, 41 and 22, will likely appeal the verdict.

Thoughts?

Note: This story was corrected on June 24, 2015 with information from the full written verdict.