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.
So they killed her for being nice to them. So sad to see crime continue to rise. I know qatar is still safe compared to most countries but im afraid that’s changing and fast
That’s pretty sick. This nice woman was kind to them, gave them food and in return they wanted to rob her and ended up killing her. No wonder some Qataris shut themselves off to the expat population and I can’t say I blame them.
The men were construction workers, however they were not
working on a site next door. They lived
in a rundown house in the same neighborhood.
This is precisely why many Qatari families refuse to allow a group of bachelor
South Asians to rent a villa in their neighborhoods. Usually it them getting drunk on homemade
liquor, or fights breaking out after a bad gambling game, or attempted rape and
robberies. Imagine you’re back home and
all of sudden 25 Eastern European or Algerian men decide to move next door, or
25 Mexicans… or even 25 college boys! (Nothing against East Europeans,
Algerians or Mexicans, just they typically are the immigrant workers in Europe
and America… )
She embraced shahadat insha Allah. May Allah bless her. Her murderers do not deserve any sympathy…
Justice served
Amen
It took 3 years?? I’m no expert but that’s a long time no?
Murder cases usually take a long time even in cases of confession.
That must be difficult for all involved
Thank you for raising this point. This goes to show everyone, even when the deceased
is an old Qatari women (from a very reputable and connected family), and the defendants
confess their crimes, murder trials do take a very long time.
Something that they brought upon themselves.
if its proofed, then why an appeal? put them in a room and lock them until they die out of hunger(or of dehydration)!!!
Appeal is in an attempt to reduce the sentence.
appeal the death sentence… not the crime
Poor lady. She lived near my friend’s house. He couldn’t express how kind she was.
May her soul rest in peace. Such crimes should be given maximum punishment by the law, and that to be announced to public to deter others who maybe thinking to commit crimes. Qatar is very safe though.
These men are heartless. This woman showed them kindness and in return they kill her for some petty items like a mobile phone?
This why folks nowadays are reluctant to help others. People take advantage of you and harm you either emotionally or physically in return.
I know her family, may she rest in peace.
She offered them food during ramadan even if they weren’t fasting,
They stabbed her till she died bloody and her maid along with her
and left.
I hope the worst for them and punishment is due.
May her soul rest in peace. It shows she was a very kind lady.
on the other hand, I don’t think the intention of killing might have been planned by all 3 of them. May be one of them just got over his nerves and stabbed, and the now all 3 are having to face the consequence. God knows best what happened.
My sympathy also goes to the family members of the culprits, as they will also have wife, kids and elderly parents who are depending on these shameless creatures, who carried out this act. Because no parents or wife would ever want their child or husband to face the firing squad.
What about the Qatari who raped and killed a teacher and then burnt her body and buried her in the desert? It will be interesting to see which death sentence gets executed first given that the Qatari guy was sentenced for death more than a year ago.
RIP old lady.
I do agree that he should get the death penalty and have it upheld in court.. but what bothers me is that (i doubt the 3 of this accused stabbed the lady) but the 3 of them are sentenced to death by firing squad, yet the friend of the murderer in above said case gets 3 years??? Now, is there some sort of discrepency here or what??
Death by firing squad ….. this is as bad as stoning to death ……. No doubt the guilty must be punished. However, culpable homicide needs to be confirmed through the appeals court as every accused in a civilised society in entitled to appeal.