A 33-year-old Pakistani man who killed his supervisor in 2021 has been acquitted by the Sharjah Court of Appeal after judges determined he was legally insane at the time of the incident. The ruling overturned a death sentence earlier imposed by the Court of First Instance, Gulf News reported.
Psychiatric assessments confirmed that the man suffered from severe schizophrenia, a condition that deprived him of perception and control over his actions. Investigations revealed that he fatally struck his 31-year-old supervisor—also Pakistani—with an iron rod while the latter was asleep at their workplace.
Medical reports submitted to the court indicated that the defendant was in a psychotic state, claiming to have received divine instructions through a bird to perform a sacrifice. He believed his supervisor was a righteous man chosen for the act and also exhibited delusional thoughts, including claims that he designed the Burj Khalifa and that supernatural beings were manipulating his phone.
Lawyer Suad Mohammad of Al Awami Al Mansoori Law Firm & Legal Consultance defended the accused, emphasizing that schizophrenia rendered him incapable of distinguishing right from wrong. She supported her case with psychiatric evaluations from Al Amal Hospital for Mental Health, which declared the defendant “completely without perception or free will,” satisfying Article 62 of the UAE Penal Code defining legal insanity.
In its verdict, the appellate court cleared the man of criminal liability but ordered him to pay Dh200,000 in blood money to the victim’s family. He will also be deported from the UAE once the payment is settled. The court granted Dh5,000 to his lawyer from the Public Treasury for her legal services.
