A Doha judge has convicted a Pakistani man of killing an elderly Qatari woman in her home this spring and sentenced him to death by firing squad.
The man, Muhammad Zaman Zirdad Khan, was not present in court on Sunday to hear his fate. While the death penalty is still being handed out in Qatari courts, the sentence has not been carried out in Qatar for over a decade.
Khan had previously confessed to killing the 68-year-old woman, who was the sister of his sponsor. He was occasionally sent to the woman’s house to help with her gardening.
In June, Khan told court that he was seeking revenge after being insulted. Legal sources told Doha News at the time she apparently spilled food on Khan in anger several months prior to her death and berated him.
Khan said he ambushed the woman early one morning in May when she left her house before dawn to water her garden. He said he then hit her on the head and brought the woman into her house where he strangled her with an undershirt.
The confession was consistent with the findings of a forensic examiner who testified that the woman died of asphyxiation.
Evidence
Court documents stated that DNA evidence recovered from the crime scene matched that of Khan. The 34-year-old had fresh scratches on his face and thumb – wounds, the report says, that are consistent with an injury inflicted by someone’s fingernails – when he was arrested six days after the woman died.
During court hearings over the past few months, investigators presented additional evidence that they said connected Khan to the crime.
A colonel in the Ministry of Interior’s criminal investigations department testified that he found a name scrawled in blood on a bed during his initial examination of the woman’s home and body.
He interpreted the bloody Arabic writing to read either “Khalid” or the accused’s last name, “Khan.” Once the officer learned of the gardener and his connection to the victim, “it was clear to us that the name was Khan,” he testified in August.
After Khan denied writing the word, the judge instructed the court clerk to note in the official record that the victim had written the name with her blood, as the police officer suggested.
During the last hearing in October, the defendant’s defense was denied opportunity to present closing arguments.
Apparently the lawyer, through an assistant, presented several requests, at least one of which was to call an additional witness. But the judge said there was no reason to fulfill the requests and that he had enough evidence to reach a verdict.
This morning, a large contingent of the victim’s family, who have been consistently attending the hearings, returned to court to hear the judgment.
A family member in attendance declined to speak to the media, but expressed satisfaction with the verdict.
Thoughts?
So fast verdict for an expat. While in the teacher case till date nothing has been finalised. Appoint a new lawyer and judge for khan.
Dude stick to Islamic text interpretations, because you clearly are very ignorant on how the court process works (among many other things), at least with the former when you make dumb comments you have the defense of there being no specific guidelines on how you are meant to interpret the text…
Dude…ignorance has been observed several times by expats here…. He has been abused and he is a poor gardener with no one to defend him or say his right…hence the verdict was given toooooo…fast. While in villagio and teacher case it is all the Richie rich involved and hence it is being elongated.
Saleem is quite rough and not polished, a bit primitive I should add….telling you ignorant, calling me idiot; be merciful with him
You should see him in other articles commenting , quite the Pre-primitive if i made add 😛 , but according to him , he is quite the English professor who has no idea to comprehend simple English language . Might as well cut him some slack 😛
Ali, no offense, but your English isn’t simple, it’s poor, and it makes it difficult to understand what you’re trying to say.
For example, what is a “Pre-primitive”?
Sarcastic metaphor, the example States someone like you
That’s not a metaphor. It’s made up.
Saleem is just calling it like it is. As for name calling, I wonder, if I were to dig into your comments history, will I not find examples of you doing just that 😉
As in anywhere else in the world… If your rich enough to afford a team of the best lawyers then the courts won’t deny you the right to choose your representation… Why doesn’t the Pakistan community chip in and help a fellow by paying his legal fees .. Where is the Pakistan embassy??
I love how when any Qatari is cornered, right away it becomes the default of everything in life!….
Typical Qatari Man’s logic:
A Qatari killed 1000 people?… So what! same thing happened 700 years ago! .. why you mentioning it now! you hater, zionist and jealous westerner!
This was a confession, that was a denial.
Confession by force and denial without using any force…just my thoughts
I wasn’t there… I judge by the visible facts, not any assumptions.
He confessed to the murder in court, and when did he ever deny it? I can’t find any link to that, so can you please provide it.
and you know its by force because? also did the scratches also come out of nowhere?
And you have proof of this claim of forced confession, or you’re just assuming things?!
“After Khan denied writing the word, the judge instructed the court clerk to note in the official record that the victim had written the name with her blood, as the police officer suggested”. Is that not enough to make a sensible assumption that his confession was forced ? “During the last hearing in October, the defendant’s defense was denied opportunity to present closing arguments. Apparently the lawyer, through an assistant, presented several requests, at least one of which was to call an additional witness. But the judge said there was no reason to fulfill the requests and that he had enough evidence to reach a verdict”. Does this also not make you wonder why the court did not allow such request ? Like I said … he might be guilty of the crime but the investigation and the trial raises alot of questions.
What you presented there could be used to argue that the judge was not being fair, but it does not mean that the confession was forced.
It’s not uncommon for people to confess to having committed a crime at 1st, but once they realize that the consequences are real and once they had time to speak to a lawyer they change their story.
A forced confession ? Lawyers not wanting to represent him….not present in court … and how can the police come to a conclusion what was written in arabic to mean Khalid or the accused last name. The very fact that Khalid ( the accused name comes nothing close to it ) or that it could mean Khan brings about reasonable doubt; this alone is grounds for an acquittal. He could very well be guilty but the entire investigation is dodgy to say the least.
Very very good points Sherlock
What about the scratches on his face or the DNA evidence?
You do understand that the name was written in Arabic, right? Would you care to try writing them both in Arabic and presenting them here for people to see how different they look? Oh, you don’t speak Arabic? Well, that’s a darn shame.
You meant to say I don’t write arabic 🙂 Anyhow … here’s where alarm bells start ringing … He hit her on the head…brought the lady into the house and strangled her with an undershirt. So…at what point did she write his name ?
Guilty:
He confessed.
Something very closely resembling his name was written with the victim’s blood.
Fresh struggle marks on his hands.
Innocent:
…?
in the teacher case the guy has been sentenced to death (which was done actually around the same speed as this trial)
according to the legal system this guy has the right to appeal as well
The old lady had Alzheimer’s and slightly delusional ..
She was still guilty of being Qatari.
What is the prison sentence for that?
Looks like the Pakistani are out in full force.. But in his defense anyone who knows Pakistan knows they’re folk incapable of senseless murder… Just not fitting of them..
Besides they’re right the poor gardener must’ve been beating and tortured to get him to confess to a crime he did not commit… Very typical of Karachi police… I mean Doha police
I’m not Pakistani
Wasn’t talking to you khan
Nice generalizations and racism there, though I normally like your musings. It doesn’t help your argument next time someone paints Qataris with the same brush when they kill entire families at the same time with highly delayed repercussions.
lol Are for real? Generalizations about Qataris are the most common ones wee see on DN, and it happens all the time. Hardly any expat here ever objects to them.
To be a racist is to say my race is superior to your race therefore I’m better and you suck… I don’t see race … Just different accents 🙂
It’s really amusing , how things work in here !
The gardener was trialed ( in May ) and sentenced to death ( in November ) for murder
A driver killed a family of five ( in May ), and still no clue who he was ( at least in Media )
Needless to mention the murdered Teacher’s case…….and on top of all, Villageo case
am I the only one seeing a pattern here ? or did I miss something ?
Yes your missing a background in law.. Hire a lawyer to understand how each case is very different
* You’re
– – you won this round saddam
* it’s sadam.
A_qtr is right… you are comparing apples and pears, all three cases are completely different. Qatar, by its nature, is very close-lipped about what it sees as “internal” issues – they do not like to wash their dirty laundry in public – and I do not blame them. So whilst nothing has been reported in the media regarding the young man involved in the accident which killed that family of five, that does NOT mean he has not been arrested, tried and/or sentenced. Of course we all want to see justice being done – but NOT seeing it, does not imply that it never happened.
These were actually 4 different cases which have a common thing. I agree with you about the tendency towards not washing dirty laundry in public, but I don’t see a harm in being more transparent, specially when people’s lives are involved..besides, publishing news about a criminal who was caught has a positive impact, at least it will deter others with criminal potential and make them think twice. Why do you think people still drive like crazy, even though they can clearly see a police car in close proximity??
So, how come we knew from the get go the identity of the main defendants in the Villagio fire case then? All the victims were expats?
Are referring to the teenage driver who accidentally killed a family of 5 during Eid back in October? October, not May.
a FIRING squad?
A old lady alone with a man a gardener, what is this??? He had acces to take her in to the house, and nobody there, so he could kill her? I hope this is not justice murder! This happens in Europe, and the years pass, so they find the real killer! I reckon they’ve turned every grain of sand on this issue, before such a serious consequence for a man, who is a poor working! God knows what is right, and see it!
I’m confused.. if she died of asphyxiation immediately, how could she have written the name on the bed.. did i misread something? And why was the judge so quick to “instruct the court clerk to note in the official record that the victim had written the name with her blood”? I’m hoping this article just didn’t go super in detail and there was more that went into that assumption haha; to me this article makes it seem like something sketchy is going on.
Moral of the story: You spill hot food on your slaves or mistreat them, you could be risking having the same fate. I am not saying it was the right thing to do. But, if she used to abuse him, which is very common in Qatar, then the b Qatari lady got what she deserved in a way. You can’t assume every single slave will just let you harass them at all times and not retaliate.
I will tell about an Alzheimer lady, from Norway. She lived with here older husband, he was 90 years, in a hospital. He had an eye operation to save the sight, then the day after clawed his wife his eyes, for he should not be able to look at the ladies. He ended blind! She ran off and went to find her mom, this lady was 80 years, and her mother was dead. She was taking of a scarves, and instead of taking of, she tightened it. I came in to the room and found her blue, in her face. Had she died, so easily one of the nurse could has received guilt! See how difficult it is to find the truth story! If you shoot a man, an injustice never can be corrected! Having experienced several such stories, Norway has not death penalty.
In Sweden, a case concerning a series murderer who has not committed a single one of the murders, no is finished. He does not get year back, after sitting many years in prison, but at least he can live free the rest of his live! Show magnanimity and give the man a chance to show it is not him! She can have attackted him, but still killed herself in delusional! God bless you!